Ask Paul: March 18 (Premium)

Happy Friday! Here’s another great set of reader questions---with some consistent concerns, go figure---to kick off the weekend.
Reminder: GET-IT virtual conference is next Thursday
Nobody asked me about this, but I did want to remind everyone that Russell Smith and I will be co-hosting Petri’s free GET-IT Microsoft 365 Collaboration and Productivity Accelerator for IT Pros virtual conference next Thursday, March 24. This is an all-day event that runs from 9:20 am ET to 3:30 pm ET, and we’ve got some great speakers and sessions lined up, including a few I know like Michael Reinders and Shane Young. Here’s the official description:
The Petri.com Microsoft 365 Collaboration and Productivity Accelerator for IT Pros 1-Day virtual conference brings 7 sessions from industry experts, Microsoft Valuable Professionals (MVP), and Microsoft’s customers that are designed to help IT pros understand and get the most out of the collaborative features in Microsoft 365. Instead of focusing on the technical ‘how-to’ of implementing and managing Microsoft 365, these sessions provide a deep dive into how Microsoft 365 apps can be used to solve business problems and how IT pros can champion their use with business leaders and users.
It should be educational and entertaining. And did I mention it was free? Please do take a look.

Thanks! --Paul
TSA Pre vs. Clear
eeisner asks:

As a frequent traveler, how do you feel about Clear vs TSA Pre from a data security standpoint? Do you worry about Clear potentially being at risk to a data breach like Equifax, or do you trust them on the same level/more than someone like LastPass?

I have to kind of cast my mind back a bit here. Clear used to be something I only saw in Denver, back when I used to go there a lot for work, while TSA Pre was available basically everywhere. And so I went with TSA Pre. I do recall a few times in Denver looking at the lines and thinking I might have been better off with Clear on occasion, but on the whole it was the better choice for me. Even today, I do see Clear sometimes, but not always. (And I guess TSA Pre and Clear technically offer slightly different services, but the general goal is the same: get from outside security to your gate as quickly as possible. And it’s worth noting that Clear is significantly more expensive than TSA Pre, which probably at least partially explains why I never got both.)

I don’t have any real opinion from a trust perspective, They’re obviously a standalone company, and not part of the government, but it’s all biometric-based, etc. so I guess I would trust the service enough to use it. (In the battle of convenience vs. security, the former always wins with the public, and in this case, for me, convenience at the airport is job one when traveling.)

The mistake I made was not getting Global Entry sooner, given how much I typically travel outside the country. Global Entry isn’t even that much more expensive than TSA Pre, ...