Remember the days when flying was exciting, fun and an all-round awesome experience? I think we can all agree that ever since the introduction of the new airport security measures after 9/11, traveling has became an ordeal.
Today I discovered Clear, an innovative idea to make navigating airport security, hassle-free.
Using Biometric technology (fingerprints and iris scans), Clear utilizes a kiosk and concierge service to verify your identity, and get you past the lines and through security quickly. It’s relatively new but already accepted at many of the major hubs. You can check it out on their website.
That’s problem solving…or better yet, user experience design.
It does beg the question however: how safe is it for you to put your biometric information on a card that you might lose? Also, what if there is an error at the kiosk and your information does not match-up properly? Will they haul you away to an underground room, or will you just end up having to clear security the old-fashioned way? Suppose you’ve not left enough time to do this because you thought you’d breeze on through? OK, I might be getting ahead of myself….I’m getting travel anxiety just thinking about the possibilities.
Back to what really worries me: imagine someone steals your wallet…now they have your credit cards, driver’s license and also fingerprint and iris scans?! Clear’s FAQ page seeks to answer some of those types of questions.
For me this is a ‘love it’ / ‘scared by it’ deal. I applaud Clear for recognizing a problem and coming up with an innovative solution. I just worry that the solution could lead to bigger problems. I think that I’m more comfortable with the idea of making an effort to get to the airport with ample time to clear security.
Perhaps next they can come up with a solution for getting passengers to a bathroom in an airplane….without anyone being arrested.
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