Press Release

 

January 12, 2007
Clear® Registered Traveler is First Provider to Receive Approval to Conduct Verification and Enrollment Services in National Rollout.

 

NEW YORK – Clear® Registered Traveler announced today that its partner airports have now received formal notice from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that Clear has been approved to conduct both enrollment and verification services as part of the national rollout of the registered traveler (RT) program, which will begin next week.

 

The notices to the airports state that Clear's parent company, "Verified Identity Pass is approved to commence providing RT verification services…" and "RT enrollment services …."

 

Clear is the only entity that has been approved by the TSA to enroll RT applicants and to operate registered traveler verification security lanes at an airport.

This approval followed an extended review and certification process that is different from Clear's November listing on TSA's website as the first service provider to meet TSA's "minimum eligibility requirements" – ie., that its executives passed criminal records background checks and the company met minimum financial viability criteria.

 

In addition to undergoing the initial review that resulted in the earlier listing, Clear was required to:

Prepare and submit to TSA – with respect to each of its five airports – separate System Security Plans totaling 317 pages per airport, covering the Clear system and its five component information systems, in order to meet TSA'S Registered Traveler Security, Privacy and Compliance Standards for Sponsoring Entities and Service Providers and the Registered Traveler Interoperability Consortium's Registered Traveler Technical Interoperability Specification (as approved by TSA).

 

Conduct and submit to TSA – with respect to each of its five airports – separate self-assessments of its compliance with those same RT standards and specifications, totaling 305 pages per airport.

 

Procure and submit to TSA – with respect to each of its five airports – an Independent Pre-Implementation Audit of Compliance from Ernst & Young in accordance with relevant American Institute of Certified Public Accountants standards and TSA procedures. The Pre-Implementation Audit of Compliance reviewed 21 control families grouping 171 controls, most of which contained subcomponents, applied to each of 5 separate systems resulting in approximately 1,000 control points being audited.

 

Successfully complete enrollment and verification conformance testing with the TSA-designated Transportation Security Clearinghouse, confirming that Clear's RT systems meet the established Registered Traveler Technical Interoperability Specification, which is contained in a 147-page document.

 

Clear CEO Steven Brill said, "it's another important milestone as we continue to lead the industry and prepare to launch verification operations at JFK, San Jose, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. Those four airports are where, along with the extension of our initial pilot program in Orlando, we will begin our national rollout next week. That expansion will continue in February to JFK Terminal 1, and to additional locations across the country in the coming months."

 

About Clear® Registered Traveler and Verified Identity Pass

Verified Identity Pass's Clear Registered Traveler, with over 35,000 members, is the only privately-run registered traveler program operating at U.S. airports.

 

Clear has been fully operational since July 19, 2005, at Orlando International Airport. The Clear network will expand this month to include JFK Terminal 7, Indianapolis, San José, and Cincinnati International Airports. Clear will launch at JFK Terminal 1 next month in conjunction with Air France. In addition, Clear has an agreeement with Toronto Pearson International Airport to operate a Canadian program, working with Canadian authorities. Clear's verification kiosk, co-developed with Verified Identity Pass's partner GE, with shoe scanning technology could allow members in the Clear lanes to keep their shoes on as they pass through the security checkpoint. For more information: www.flyclear.com.