IFE C AMERAS
ai r c raf t inter iorsinternat ional . com 041
SEPTEMBER 2019
devices. Features that many in the industry are working to introduce
include: face-to-face communications, passenger safety and well-being,
gesture interfaces for gaming and in-flight services, and security.
Of these, Leader believes the communications applications will be the
first to appeal to passengers, though the camera applications that suit
passengers best will differ by class of service.
“I think passengers are most interested in maintaining a connection
via devices,” Leader says. “Today, some airlines allow FaceTime and
other video or audio technology, while others block them. My sense
is that, if you have an enclosed suite environment, then it makes
sense to be able to video chat with your flight attendant and tell
them what you would like from the galley during a flight, rather
than have them running in and out. Occupants can also have
conversations in privacy.”
In economy class, Leader believes that gesture control and
eye control user interfaces will become more popular than
communications applications, especially so that passengers are
WATCHING THE WATCHERS
Fight for the Future, a non-profit that
aims to defend public basic rights and
freedoms on the internet, has launched
AirlinePrivacy.com, an online scorecard and
flight booking site that lists the airlines
using facial recognition technology. The
page allows users to book flights directly
with privacy-conscious airlines and to
Tweet those that use facial recognition,
asking them to end the policy. The site was
launched after more than 57,000 people
signed petitions from Fight for the Future,
Demand Progress (an internet activistrelated
entity) and CREDO Action (a social
change network), calling on JetBlue to drop
the biometric boarding programme it set up
with US Customs and Border Protection.
The campaign is growing, and Fight for
the Future says there is growing bipartisan
agreement in Congress to ban or pause
facial recognition technology at the
federal level.
According to the website, the following
airlines run surveillance: JetBlue, Delta,
American, British Airways, Lufthansa
And these airlines don’t: Alaska, United,
Southwest, Allegiant and Air Canada.
“Requiring facial scanning before
boarding isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a
creepy and alarming invasion of our privacy.
These airlines continue to dodge important
questions about who, in the airline industry
and in the government, will have access to
passengers’ biometric data, for how long,
and to what ends? This is an appalling
attack on privacy and basic rights by
JetBlue and we need to stop it now before
it becomes the new normal,” said Tihi
Hayslett, campaigner at Demand Progress.
“JetBlue is an early adopter of a DHS
plan that violates privacy without making
us safer,” adds Brandy Doyle from CREDO
Action. “Airlines should be pushing back
against this programme to protect
their passengers, not rushing
into a new world of ubiquitous
surveillance and unchecked
data-sharing.”
not annoyed by the
passenger behind tapping
on the back of their seat
while playing games.
Some applications will be available
in-flight sooner than others, in keeping
with consumer electronics trends on the
ground. “Using face ID for unlocking our
smartphones is a great example of what we
are accustomed to now,” Leader says.
“We estimate that between 2022 and
2025, people will be controlling devices
using gesture and eye control more
readily. We’ll see if Apple and Google stick
to that timeframe. If they do, then airlines
will have to become more agile by having
cameras already installed; being able to
keep up via software updates rather
than have to install new hardware.”
It will take some time for consumers
to adjust to more biometric and camera
applications on planes, but it won’t take
long. Biometrics are already part of the
passenger experience on the ground.
“We’re going to see biometrics become
more tightly integrated to the airport
experience first,” Leader says. “Like in
Atlanta, where one can go all the way
through getting their boarding pass,
checking their bag and going on the plane
without showing their passport or any
form of ID. Everything has been turned to
biometrics, which identify passengers who
are authorised to fly internationally and
allow them through the airport.”
IATA studies show that passengers are
willing to forgo some privacy in exchange
for convenience, and that they embrace
biometric identity applications.
According to IATA’s 2018 Annual
Global Passenger Survey (GPS), 65% of
passengers are willing to share additional
personal information, including
biometrics, to speed up their processing
at the airport. What is notable is that
this was lower than the percentage who
expressed the same level of comfort in
2017 (70%). Some of that drop may be
attributable to the privacy backlash,
resulting from Cambridge
Analytica’s use of personal
Facebook data. Whenever
consumers are made aware
of the implications of the
technology that they embrace,
DR JOE LEADER IS CEO OF
APEX AND WILL BE A KEY
FIGURE IN THE CONFERENCE
SESSIONS. SEE P106 FOR
MORE ON APEX EXPO
“ It will take some time
for consumers to adjust
to biometrics on planes”
/AirlinePrivacy.com