Fred Aun of StorefrontBacktalk discusses what happens now to all of the confidential information the Clear registered traveler program compiled on customers. Since June 22, when the company first ceased operations, consumers have not been able to get a clear (no pun intended) and full explanation of the company’s intentions with respect to their personal data. Previous news stories covered on this site indicate the extent to which the public — and Congress — are not sure what happens next. Aun writes:
…. The company pledged “to keep the privacy promises” it made and noted the private info would be secured “in accordance with the Transportation Security Administration’s security, privacy and compliance standards.” More precisely, each hard disk at the airport kiosks “has now been wiped clean” of all data. “The triple wipe process we used automatically and completely overwrites the contents of the entire disk, including the operating system, the data and the file structure,” vowed Verified Identity Pass. “This process also prevents or thoroughly hinders all known techniques of hard disk forensic analysis.”
Meanwhile, back at the company’s office, Lockheed Martin is on hand as the lead systems integrator “to ensure an orderly shutdown as the program closes,” said the statement. Note the careful wording here: “As Verified Identity Pass, Inc. and the Transportation Security Administration work through this process, Lockheed Martin remains committed to protecting the privacy of individuals’ personal information provided for the Clear Registered Traveler program.”
“Protecting” data isn’t the same as erasing it. That’s because, toward the end of the initially comforting statement, Verified Identity Pass indicates that the personally identifiable information might not be nuked after all. In fact, the company said it might try selling it.
Read more on StorefrontBacktalk.