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Brill Seeks To Assuage ACTE Attendees' Reg. Traveler Privacy Concerns

MAY 09, 2006 -- With the Association of Corporate Travel Executives raising concerns that red flags on an employee's background could be raised if they are rejected from Registered Traveler programs, Verified Identity Pass CEO Steven Brill today during a keynote at the ACTE conference in Atlanta said the company would ensure corporate travel buyers and their companies would not be notified of rejected applications. ACTE officials said privacy concerns about Registered Traveler programs are increasingly on the radar of travel managers, yet president Greeley Koch said the organization will continue to strongly support a program if it delivers on its promise to speed travelers through airport security checkpoints.

Brill said the company would not disclose to corporate contract holders which employees are members of the program, even if the company pays for those memberships. Brill also reached out to ACTE to help with a "dispute resolution program" should companies want verification that the number of memberships they pay for are in fact issued. Brill stressed factors other than an employee's background—such as the inability to produce a readable fingerprint—could be a barrier to the program's entry.

Noting that TSA had always intended the program to be voluntary for the American public, Brill said that facet of Registered Traveler should be preserved in Corporate America. "We will not sign corporate contracts that require employees to be part of this program," Brill said.

However, the keynote left many ACTE attendees still concerned. Using handheld instant polling devices following Brill's presentation, 53 percent of 106 respondents said they were still concerned about suspicions being raised by their employers should their application be rejected.

Meanwhile, VIP this morning finalized a deal with HRG to join the stable of travel management companies, including TQ3Navigant and Travel and Transport, that will offer clients tiered discounts for Verified Identity Pass biometric smart cards that facilitate the airport security process. American Express also is in the final stages of putting together an agreement with VIP, confirmed Andrew McGraw, senior vice president and general manager of American Express Business Travel for North America.

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