Government officials are wondering too.

The sudden shutdown of the Clear program, run by Verified Identity Pass Inc., this week has raised more concerns about who keeps our personal information, how well it's protected from theft and whether it could be sold to the highest bidder.

If Verified files for bankruptcy protection or is taken over by another company, security experts say it's unlikely customers' private data would be handed over to creditors or new owners. But they - as well as some members of Congress - are starting to trace the data trail.

Worries about protecting personal information and the danger of identity theft cover many areas of life in the 21st century beyond travel - from drawing cash out of an ATM to handing a credit card over to a store or restaurant.

On Tuesday, the parent company of retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshall's said it will pay $9.75 million in a settlement with a number of states related to massive data theft that exposed tens of millions of payment card numbers.

Clear says it will secure the personal information it gathered, which it says it handled according to Transportation Security Administration standards, and will "take appropriate steps to delete the information." Although it was a private company, Clear had to follow TSA guidelines and report personal information to the TSA to get its members through special fast-lane security lines at about 20 airports.

But the TSA stopped short of promising it will delete the information is has stored from Clear, and won't say why. Spokesman Greg Soule said, though, that the agency didn't keep any data for passengers after July 2008, when Clear began operations as a fully private company.

Some experts say the Transportation Security Administration should manage passenger data better and not store so much of it for so long.