Clear speedy security lanes may be back by Christmas

We have been covering Verified Identity Pass and their Clear security service for some time now – first discussing how it helped passengers speed through the security checkpoint, then discussing their demise, and most recently, talking about how the service was treating the personal information of their customers.

Today, a team of investors have made the news with their attempts at reviving the service. The current plan is to have the service back in operation by the Holiday season, and part of the recovery includes offering former Clear subscribers the option to continue their membership with the “new and improved Clear”.

To me, the most interesting part of this, is whether or not a new Clear will require members to go through the sign up procedure again. As a reminder, this is what Clear said when they closed up shop:

“Personal information is safe – all airport kiosks have been wiped clean, and Lockheed Martin (the IT provider for Clear) has started wiping all the databases containing Clear customer data. No customer data will ever be sold, and once the cleaning process is done, there will be no traces of personal information left.”

The new investor had the following to say:

“If the former members choose not to sign up, their personal information will be destroyed.”

So, once again it has become obvious that the personal information of Clear members was not destroyed as promised, and assuming Clear goes to a new owner, their information will have been sold, breaking every promise Clear made.

Don’t get me wrong – I hope a new Clear does succeed, and I think it is very important that someone picks up the pieces of what is left of Clear, I’m just concerned how the personal information of subscribers is being dealt with, and who is actually in charge of all that information at the moment.