The overwhelming availability of gum in an airplane cabin might suggest a solution to the privacy-conscious.
American Airlines Has Cameras in Their Screens Too
161–170 of 233 posts
Re: American Airlines Has Cameras in Their Screens Too
#162To me this is just a distraction. Yes there's a hardware camera. I will bet some money that they have not been used nefariously by AA or SQ. Some are raging about the non-existant theoretical privacy violation (again, not 100% non-existant, but I will bet money there's no surveillance through this camera), meanwhile we are ignoring actual privacy violations being done by e.g. Facebook or Twitter, or the millions of a…
>>I will bet some money that they have not been used nefariously by AA or SQ. not yet Given the last 20 years of bad behavior from tech companies overall, and the steady erosion of privacy in nearly all quarters, I question your confidence and must ask "based on what ?"
Based on my belief that developing software for it would not be cheap (hello, contractors), and that I don't see a use case how it could make more money for the airline (fine maybe I'm just not creative enough).
They could have analytics that say "Passenger X (profile: male, paid with a platinum credit card, flew 5 times in the last 6 months) watched movie Y for 40 minutes before looking up the price for the WiFi connectivity and deciding against it (pressing Cancel) after 2 minutes. Passenger turned off the display and only turned it on again 2 hours later at 9:45 PM (the flight attendants started serving food at 9:40 PM), suggesting the passenger slept until they started serving dinner.", but for that they don't need a camera, they can just use analytics software that already monitor your activity inside mobile apps.
Re: American Airlines Has Cameras in Their Screens Too
#163There's security cameras in every mass transit vehicle I've ever been in. Why is this a privacy issue?
Re: American Airlines Has Cameras in Their Screens Too
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
An airport is a public space. A plane seat is semi-private or at least has always had that expectation. And given that it was placed there by the people owning the plane, it is well within the bounds of what passengers can expect to demand changed by said owners.
> A plane seat is semi-private or at least has always had that expectation. Really? I've never had that expectation. I consider it the same as sitting on a seat on a public transit bus or subway train. I still think the airline should disclose when and how they're recording me, but an expectation of privacy? Nah.
So when you're sitting next to your significant other and talking about personal issues, you have no problem with being audio/video recorded?
Most people expect some level of privacy when sitting at their seat. This is not a general/overview cabin camera, this is literally a foot in front of you and pointed directly at your face.
Re: American Airlines Has Cameras in Their Screens Too
#165What's the big deal, though? Its not like these devices are in your home -- they are in a public space that is well known to be heavily surveiled. So I guess, even in the worst case scenario where these cameras were recording you, what is so different from the other 500x camera FOVs you step into during your journey? What am I missing?
An airport is a public space. A plane seat is semi-private or at least has always had that expectation. And given that it was placed there by the people owning the plane, it is well within the bounds of what passengers can expect to demand changed by said owners.
Not sure I agree re: the seat being semi-private. Surely it must be expected that there is surveillance in general on airplanes? As there is in any other public transportation (train, subway, taxi, etc..)
I guess the whole controversy seems very knee-jerk and out of touch with the existing level of monitoring already on board the plane and in the airport.
Re: American Airlines Has Cameras in Their Screens Too
#166There's security cameras in every mass transit vehicle I've ever been in. Why is this a privacy issue?
Then we have to hope that someone leaks a cell phone video of the incident as it plays on a screen in a security hut somewhere. No way any airline is going to publish video of airport security dragging a paying customer down the aisle of an aircraft.
Re: American Airlines Has Cameras in Their Screens Too
#167Actually surprised there's no cameras on planes (that I know of at least). Buses, subways, other mass transit have cameras.
And I've seen no one complain about the cameras some food chains use in their table-side checkout systems. Red Robin is the first that comes to mind. It sits there your entire meal... Obviously it's to take your pic when you swipe your credit card (and apparently scan coupons and gift cards).
Re: American Airlines Has Cameras in Their Screens Too
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
People by and large keep to themselves on airplanes. If someone was recording you with their cell phone for the duration of the flight, I promise you, you wouldn't like it. The resultant footage wouldn't particularly be any different than if it was recorded by the seatback in front of you, though. If I'm going to, say, a concert, or especially a taping of a TV show, I have a much higher expectation of ending up in so…
I wouldn't like it and if I noticed I'd politely ask them to stop. However, (and I'm not a lawyer) I don't think it'd be illegal or even unethical. If someone was recording me napping on a plane I'd treat it the same way as if I was napping under a tree in a national park. It would be a non issue for me. Privacy is something I control by not exposing sensitive information in areas where recording is a possibility. I…
You're not supposed to use your camera in customs areas in airports. Some airlines get really weird about people even taking photos on the plane (though that has relaxed a lot), so it might not be against FAA rules, but I think someone purposefully recording a sleeping person would still be frowned upon and would be one of those activities that could get a plane turned around if the passenger didn't desist when asked or delete the footage.
But aside from that, I'd posit that it's actually a very different thing to have a random passenger recording you (which is still gross) and the airline (which may be owned and operated by a foreign government, which is the case for most of the airlines in the Middle East and some in Asia), which has your name, your passport number, your birthdate, your address, and other very sensitive and identifying information on file.
One is creepy and uncool. The other could be flat-out surveillance. Especially since when you travel, the government data you give to the airlines isn't negotiable (meaning unless I'm flying domestic, I can't use a fake ID and name to travel (and even that would be against the law), I have to use my passport, my full name, my address, etc.
Re: American Airlines Has Cameras in Their Screens Too
#169Actually surprised there's no cameras on planes (that I know of at least). Buses, subways, other mass transit have cameras. And I've seen no one complain about the cameras some food chains use in their table-side checkout systems. Red Robin is the first that comes to mind. It sits there your entire meal... Obviously it's to take your pic when you swipe your credit card (and apparently scan coupons and gift cards).
Those kiosks have cameras in them? I've used them dozens of times and never realized, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Re: American Airlines Has Cameras in Their Screens Too
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except people do care, as evidenced by the fact that this is even an article about a controversy in the first place.
Some journalists care. Don't conflate journalists or HN forum with the general public. Most people likely don't care at all.
People is just the plural of person. Journalists are people too.
A small amount of disgruntled air travelers stranded on the tarmac led to the establishment of a Passenger Bill of Rights: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-t.... So I wouldn't say that this is worthless or that this is not impactful.