Verify Your Identity at Duke with CLEAR

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Protecting Duke systems and your personal information is critically important. As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen identity across the university and health system, Duke has partnered with CLEAR, the secure identity company you may recognize from airports and stadiums. 

CLEAR, offers a simple and secure way to verify your identity should you need to reset your Duke password.

Starting Thursday, April 2, 2026, the primary way Duke employees, students and sponsored account holders will complete a password reset is by confirming their identity with CLEAR. If you already use CLEAR (for travel or events), your existing account will connect to Duke using your phone number.

This change does not apply to the DKU community.

What’s Changing

The next time you reset your Duke password, you’ll verify your identity with a quick selfie instead of answering knowledge-based security questions (i.e. your mother’s maiden name). 

Why It’s Changing

Higher education institutions continue to be targeted by increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. Traditional challenge-response questions are vulnerable to phishing and social engineering.

The OIT Service Desk receives approximately 11,600 calls each year regarding identity verification. In just the past 30 days, 1,281 verifications were completed using challenge-response questions.

This volume highlights both how frequently identity verification occurs and how important it is to modernize the process. By replacing security questions with CLEAR, there is a stronger layer of identity protection—reducing risk while making the process faster and more convenient.

What You Need To Do

If you need to reset your Duke password, verifying with CLEAR will take only a couple of minutes. Early enrollment is available on the Security tab of the OIT Account Self-Service page for those who prefer to set up CLEAR in advance.

To set up CLEAR for the first time: 

• Enter your phone number and email address
• Snap a selfie
• Upload a government-issued ID
• Used CLEAR before? Recover your Duke account in seconds with a quick selfie

Tip: For the smoothest experience across CLEAR’s network of partners, use your personal phone number and email address when enrolling. 

Are there alternatives to CLEAR?

Some members of the Duke community may not be able to use CLEAR. In those cases, they can reset their passwords using third-party email verification or by visiting the OIT Service Desk in person for assistance.

About CLEAR

CLEAR's mission is to strengthen security and create frictionless experiences. With more than 39 million members and a growing network of partners across the world, CLEAR's secure identity platform is transforming the way people live, work, and travel. Whether you are traveling, at the stadium, or on your phone, CLEAR connects you to the things that make you, you—making everyday experiences easier, more secure, and friction-free. CLEAR is committed to privacy done right. Members are always in control of their own information, and we do not sell biometric or sensitive personal data. For more information, visit clearme.com.