Likes & Launch

I always think about the socks I wear on the days I go to the airport. Exposed toes aren’t a great impression for the strangers who are sizing you up.

Nice black socks on, I arrived at SFO at 5:32am. Ten minutes later, it didn’t matter. My shoes and coat kept on, my laptop still safely in my purse. My flight was still on time and I had no fear of missing it.  It 5:39am and I was already at my gate. No, I didn’t sneak in a secret entrance or get an invitation on a private jet. I simply traded my personal data for a better deal with TSA.

Save your privacy by giving more away

From NSA to Google Ads, data privacy has been a hot topic this year. At USV, we often discuss the push to share more data, not less, as a remedy to privacy. The thought is, that by providing more information we can actually devalue the data so there is less to gain from a third party obtaining it.

For example, in some european countries salaries and income are public information. Everyone has access to everyone else’s data. That means that services in the US like GlassDoor or Salary surveys that charge money to gain access to that information, would go out of business. There is no financial incentive to discover the data or find ways to gather it because it’s already in public domain. More income data brings the cost of selling income data down to zero.

Albert has written extensively about more data transparency and the risks of a crypto’s arms race. Fundamentally, I can rationalize the value in a more transparent culture, but the thought of the long cultural transition is uncomfortable.

In the US, the cultural norm is to keep medical records private. Insurance and employers (illegally), have created financial incentives for any individual with less than pristine medical history to keep that information private. Although these individuals may readily share this information with family or doctors, so the information isn’t intentionally private, exposing it too broadly could present financial downside in the short term. However, in the long run, if everyone shared their medical data it could help predict or prevent diseases in the first place and actually save insurance more. Making the transition from private to fully transparent would generate short-term costs throughout the length of the transition, however long it takes.

So how do we make any strides in data transparency when we know there will be costs in the transition? A good case study may start at the airport, TSA Pre-Check.

Travel transparency goes beyond the x-ray

I first learned about TSA pre-check after a few trips with my boyfriend. He kept being directed to a super fast line at security. He would try to bring me along with him in the line but I was sent back to the regular security line. I attributed the special line to his status on Delta so wasn’t sure why I wasn’t getting special treatment too.

My growing impatience with TSA lines, shoe removal and laptop take-outs, drove me to investigate further. TSA Pre-check granted the access and could be obtained through a few different channels.

Some carriers do auto-enroll members with a certain level of status into the TSA pre-check program.

Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways are contacting eligible frequent travelers with an invitation to opt-in. Once the passenger opts-in, the airline identifies the individual as a TSA Pre✓™ participant when submitting passenger reservation information to TSA’s Secure Flight system.

If you’re not a frequent or loyal traveler, you still have options. The options you have are : “U.S. citizens currently enrolled in CBP’s Global Entry, SENTRI or NEXUS Trusted Traveler programs are automatically eligible to participate in TSA Pre✓™. Canadian citizens who are members of NEXUS are also qualified to participate in TSA Pre✓™.”

I enrolled in the Global Entry program, which cross-enrolls you in TSA pre-check. The benefit of Global Entry is you can skip the line when re-entering the United States by simply swiping your passport.

All programs require sharing past travel history, passport number, address, birthdate and photo. I readily provide that information to airlines and foreign visa applications so I see it as a reasonable ask. The output is what’s called a Known Traveler number. Given the amount of time and investment put into physical security screening, it was a bit surprising that a Known Traveler program wasn’t implemented sooner. If individuals want to opt in to sharing data in return for less physical inspection, they have more options besides refusing to fly. 

On both legs of my JFK - SFO trip, I skipped long lines by utilizing the TSA-Pre-check status. I was through security in under 10 minutes without the need to take off my shoes, coat or take my laptop out. Finally, TSA feels like a civil process. 

Trade in to trade up?

The GOES application will cost you $99 for an 8 year membership and require a trip to a local enrollment center for an interview. If you plan on flying at least a few times in the next few years, it may be well worth it to you. On 4 round-trip flights I’ve already saved a few hours in line and fewer rounds in the full body scanners. I think it’s well worth the price and the data cost.

What do you think? Have you enrolled? Please share in the comments below.

When I left American Express in 2010, I had no idea I’d end up at a VC firm after two startups. Looking back now I can connect the dots but the path for a lot of people is not very clear looking forward. When you don’t know where you’re heading, the best bet is to build the skills you might need. 

When I would get frustrated at Amex because I wanted more challenging problems (woo hoo Gen Y), my parents would tell me, “Brittany, you’re getting paid to learn. Learn as much as you can while you’re there.”

You can use that advice in any role you’re in. Whether you want to stay within the company you’re at, you want to switch roles or you want to build something on your own. Find ways to learn the skills that will make you a better candidate. The good news is, most of the time you don’t need anyone’s permission. 

My perspective changed about Excel documents at Amex, when I viewed it as a craft that I wanted to master. I asked colleagues for advice on more advanced features and watched tutorials online. I improved my team’s files and learned about Macros that would come back in future jobs. It wasn’t the ‘coolest’ skill to learn but I’ve saved a lot of time building Excel models ever since.

When I was building a startup at gtrot, I realized my ability to communicate with our dev team and screen potential technical hires was weak. I decided to spend 12 weeks learning to code through Starter League. The extra 8 hours a week was a commitment but it enabled me to read our code base, better communicate with our team and build prototypes when describing new features. I never thought I would become a full time developer, but I’ve used those skills to be a better leader, entrepreneur and VC.

If you’re not sure where your career will take you, make sure you are learning as much as possible where you are. Once you build your skill set  no one can take that away from you.

If you’re not sure what skills you’re going to need, I believe web development, understanding data to make decisions, and strong communication skills are increasing in value. I’ve been using this blog to try to up the third one. Advice welcome!