Clear Registered Traveler
is shutting down.
Born out of post-9/11 paranoia,
as I've mentioned before, Clear never added much security value,
and eventually it became not much more than a way to pay $200 to
avoid having to wait in line with everyone else (remember: you
eventually went through the same security controls).
Of course, that didn't necessarily mean that it wasn't worth it,
but seeing as anyone who travels enough to really benefit from
bypassing the security line probably has elite status and can
bypass a lot of lines anyway. In all the times I went through
SFO, I don't think I ever saw anyone use the Clear line.
Security: Airport: June 2009 Archives
June 23, 2009
June 17, 2009
In response to concerns about H5N1, there have been proposals
to adopt (and some adoptions) of body temperature scanners
to detect people with the flu. Apparently they're not
difficult to defeat:
HANOI (Reuters) - Many sick passengers who flew to Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam took fever reducers to cheat temperature scanners at the airport, leading to the discovery of several infected cases later, state media reported at the weekend.Nguyen Van Chau, head of Ho Chi Minh City's Health Department, was quoted in state-run Tien Phong (Vanguard) daily as saying "a series of passengers" took fever reducers three hours before arrival.
"That's why when they passed through the airport, the body temperature scanners skipped them," Chau said.
Why does this not surprise me?
