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T-Mobile employees panic after carrier enforces internal security feature

By Cosmin Vasile

Published: Mar 11, 2025, 12:00 PM

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T-Mobile is trying to prevent another security breach by taking various measures that involve both customers and employees. The carrier’s latest initiative has left many employees frustrated due to its requirements.

An internal document leaked this week suggests T-Mobile now requires its employees to register their identity with CLEAR, “an identity company” that owns a secure platform specialized in verification checks.

CLEAR already has security partnerships with airlines and stadiums including Delta, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Major League Baseball, National Football League, Lyft, and even LinkedIn.

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The internal T-Mobile document mentions that employees must use only their own YubiKey, phone number, and email when enrolling in CLEAR. Also, it seems that the enrollment in CLEAR had a March 1 deadline. Once the process is complete, T-Mobile employees should benefit from CLEAR’s passwordless authentication method, which is supposed to protect both employee and customer data.

The are a couple of reasons that T-Mobile chose CLEAR to protect its database from possible security breaches:

CLEAR Identity Verification works alongside T-Mobile’s other security measures like YubiKey. While the latter confirms that the right person is accessing the carrier’s systems, Clear Identity Verification confirms that they are that person.
CLEAR’s real-time identity verification helps reduce the risk of unauthorized access and cyber-attacks.
CLEAR is recognized as a trusted verification partner by Homeland Security.

T-Mobile employees panic after carrier enforces internal security feature

T-Mobile's internal document explains why CLEAR is a solid security solution | Image credit: The T-Mobile Report

Apparently, employees have been left frustrated after they’ve been forced to enroll in the CLEAR program. They believe T-Mobile already has enough security layers in place that there’s no point in adding a new one. More importantly, they’re irritated by the fact that CLEAR wants all their information.

It's not enough that we have Yubikeys, face ID on our REMOS, Microsoft authenticator. Now they want Clear?

– reddit user Crusty_Pancakes, February 2025

What makes this even odd is that CLEAR’s FAQ mentions that the company gets to keep that personal data of a T-Mobile employee even after they left the carrier. On the bright side, you can, and should, ask CLEAR to completely delete your data if you leave T-Mobile. I’m not sure how they’re going to prove that they no longer have your data stored somewhere, but that is another matter.

Yeah I don’t understand why I have to upload my ID to a 3rd party company with no explanation as to why.

– reddit user Commercial-Engine-35, February 2025

While it’s wonderful that companies that have been hacked in the past are now trying to find better security solutions to prevent that from happening again, it’s a good idea to avoid doing that at the expense of their employees’ security.

At the moment, it’s unclear what is happening with T-Mobile employees who refuse to enroll in CLEAR, but I imagine they will no longer be able to access the system after a while.

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Cosmin, a tech journalist with a career spanning over a decade, brings a wealth of experience to PhoneArena. His expertise lies in brands like Samsung and Nokia, and he has a keen interest in innovative technologies. After a brief stint in PR, Cosmin returned to tech journalism in 2016, committed to delivering clear and objective news. When he's not writing or appearing as a guest on TV and radio shows, Cosmin enjoys playing RPGs, watching Netflix, and nurturing his passion for history and travel.