CLEAR, a New York City-based company that specializes in biometric security that originally started pumping travelers through growing airport lines in the post-9/11 period, now sees a huge opportunity with the country covered by the Covid -19 pandemic is excluded.
CLEAR recently released a product called Health Pass that links Covid-19 health information to biometric identifiers such as face, eyes and fingerprints.
Since its launch, Health Pass has made significant strides, especially in stadiums that host sporting events and need to quickly check the status of many people. In February, 100 vaccinated health care workers were able to participate in the Super Bowl by checking their status on the Health Pass. A third of the NBA teams use the app to enforce their Covid protocols for fans. People who attend NHL hockey games in Arizona also use the Health Pass.
The post-pandemic innovation pushed CLEAR to 19th place on this year’s CNBC Disruptor 50 list.
“What we determined in March 2020 was that there will be a new card in your wallet that contains a vaccination card or test results,” CLEAR co-founder and CEO Caryn Seidman-Becker said on CNBC’s TechCheck on Wednesday. “So it has always been part of our mission to connect you to your health insights related to Covid.
More coverage of the 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50
As more people get vaccinated and concerts, sporting events and large gatherings reopen, it is becoming more and more likely that customers will need to digitally submit their Covid vaccination or testing status in order to be approved.
“September 11th changed the way people thought about securing their building or stadium,” Seidman-Becker said last month in a virtual town hall for members of the CNBC Technology Executive Council. “It has raised awareness of security and, in particular, internal security.”
No “vaccination pass”
The CEO of CLEAR emphasized that the company’s technology should not be tied to the idea of a vaccination card. “We’re not talking about a vaccination record. We’re talking about giving people control and access to their health information about what happened before,” she said on CNBC on Wednesday. “So many trends accelerated in 2020 and we see this as a major … ongoing trend … people should have access and control over their information.”
US officials have said they are largely relying on people to be honest about their vaccination status, and retailers and hotel chains have said they have no intention of looking for evidence of vaccine. However, some retailers like Walmart have partnered with CLEAR to offer the Health Pass.
Investment groups involved in the NFL and restaurant mogul Danny Meyer recently participated in a venture capital round for the company, and the Shake Shack founder’s Union Square Hospitality Group has used the technology to bring back indoor dining.
“We offer it to employers, but we also offer it to consumers free of charge so that they can link their health insights to their CLEAR Health Pass,” said Seidman-Becker. “We partnered with Walmart, but we also partnered with the NBA to help people get back into stadiums or reopen offices.”
“Frankly, this is a pervasive problem that makes experiences safer and easier,” she added.
