Verified Identity Pass was a private company that offers a service called Clear, which was designed to help air travelers pass through security checks at airports faster by vetting their identities and backgrounds in advance. June 21, Verified Identity Pass announced that, for financial reasons, it would cease activity. The sudden closure has raised serious concerns about customer data collected by the company. The stored information includes fingerprints, iris and digital images for about 260,000 customers. Although it registered travel program was private property, it was authorized by the TSA, which required the service to register the legal full names, addresses, dates and places of birth, gender, height, license numbers license, passport and other information for all customers.
Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, gave the Transportation Security Administration until July 8 to explain how the agency plans to ensure the safety of all these data. The TSA is in the process of establishing an answer to that question, and in the meantime, claims that Clear is the appropriately safeguard the data collected. Verified Identity Pass guarantees customers that their information is stored in accordance with the requirements of security and privacy TSA. But the data has not been deleted, leaving open the possibility that it could be sold or transferred to another party, if the intention is to use it for other registered travel program.
As long as our personal information is there, beyond our control, it is wise to invest in identity theft protection.