{"id":1089,"date":"2008-08-06T10:17:14","date_gmt":"2008-08-06T14:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/?p=1089"},"modified":"2008-08-06T10:17:14","modified_gmt":"2008-08-06T14:17:14","slug":"clear-incompetent-bridge-trolls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/06\/clear-incompetent-bridge-trolls\/","title":{"rendered":"Clear: Incompetent Bridge Trolls"},"content":{"rendered":"

You might have noticed a company called Clear<\/a>, when you last passed through an airport.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re a private operation that will sell you a fast pass through the security lines, provided that you give them lots of personal information in advance so they can perform a background check on you (if that sounds like a cheap way for terrorists to sort out whether they’re on any lists, well . . . we’ll get to that another time).\u00c2\u00a0 This, then, is a “security” company that someone at TSA is apparently thinks competent enough to delegates security decisions to, as well as collect and store lots of personal information.<\/p>\n

You know the punch line already, don’t you?<\/p>\n

Clear lost a laptop<\/a> with the personal information of 33,000 members on it.\u00c2\u00a0 None of it encrypted.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, but don’t worry, they found it<\/a>!\u00c2\u00a0 Where?\u00c2\u00a0 In the same office from which it was reported lost.<\/p>\n

So many of these “security” programs strike me as much like the bridge trolls we used to find in children’s stories.\u00c2\u00a0 Bridge trolls are, of course, just extortionists.\u00c2\u00a0 The put themselves between where you are and where you need to go, and demand a price to let you pass.\u00c2\u00a0 Many people paid, because the bridge trolls were dangerous enough to do damage to you.\u00c2\u00a0 But all of them ultimately turn out to be not that bright and are eventually shown for the dumb brutes that they are, usually by some enterprising kid who just doesn’t buy into the fear.\u00c2\u00a0 Clear is just another bridge troll.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You might have noticed a company called Clear, when you last passed through an airport.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re a private operation that will sell you a fast pass through the security lines, provided that you give them lots of personal information in advance so they can perform a background check on you (if that sounds like a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-policy","category-society","category-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t