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Delta Airlines Tests Facial Recognition To Speed Up Baggage Check-In (cnn.com)
Would you let Delta airlines scan your face if it meant you could skip the line to check-in your baggage? An anonymous reader quotes CNN:
Delta is testing a face-scanning kiosk for baggage check... It uses facial recognition technology to match your identity to your passport photo. You tag your own bags, pay the fee and drop your luggage on a conveyor belt... Delta will test four of the machines at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport this summer. The airline spent $600,000 on the four kiosks.
A senior staff attorney at the EFF warns this could be a slippery slope -- at what point this morphs into airline surveillance? But a Delta spokerspeson insists the images won't be stored, that they're complying with privacy laws, and that the kiosks could double the number of passengers whisking through their check-in procedures.
A senior staff attorney at the EFF warns this could be a slippery slope -- at what point this morphs into airline surveillance? But a Delta spokerspeson insists the images won't be stored, that they're complying with privacy laws, and that the kiosks could double the number of passengers whisking through their check-in procedures.
Are you kidding me? The airline knows already knows who you are, what seat you will be sitting in, where you are going and have all your passport details. Do people really think there's any additional information the airline is going to glean from a photo of you other than confirming you are who your passport says you are?
to all those data? With this POTUS intelligence this will all turn into a police super surveillance state - or whatever you may call it...
I wonder how many extra check-in staff you could hire for $600,000? Isn't the reason for the delay in check-in baggage because there are not enough people on staff to check your baggage?
air marshals and local cops are replaced by robots who know exactly how to much to beat you and drag you off without breaking bones or leaving permanent damage.
"But a Delta spokerspeson insists the images won't be stored yet, that they're complying with privacy laws at the moment, ...
FTFT
A Delta Customer service agent will be right with you.
Given recent news reports about altercations between airliner personnel and passengers, I wouldn't at all be surprised if airlines began video surveillance of ticketing booths gates, and the interior of airplanes. The problem with cell phone video is that it almost always misses the beginning of the incident. So if the industry feels they are being wrongly criticized by the news media replaying and relying exclusively on cell phone video to characterize a story, they are going to respond by installing 24/7 surveillance video.
The main actor I can see working against this isn't the EFF. It's the NTSB. They won't want video of people in a plane cabin dying in a plane crash to become public. Because planes are much safer than cars, but any such video would cause irrational people to drive rather than fly, leading to more net deaths. For ticketing booths and gates, I suspect DHS already requires 24/7 video surveillance. Especially after the terrorist attack at Amsterdam airport.
The baggage check-in is the least time-consuming part of flying. Now if there's something an airline could do to minimize sitting on the tarmac for three hours without being able to leave your seat, that would be impressive.
They can't build high-speed trains fast enough for me. Flying has become much worse than riding the low-budget bus lines.
You are welcome on my lawn.
If the airlines really want to streamline their check-in process, they should focus on creating terminals with a fast, responsive UX. Any time I've used an airport kiosk, I've had to click through anywhere from five to eight screens of information. Each screen is separated by a lengthy "loading" modal dialog box which takes anywhere from two to five seconds to process.
No, I don't want to pay the at-airport price for a first-class upgrade. No, I don't want to change my seat---there are no more seats to be had! No, I don't want a mileage multiplier. To check bags, I have to swipe a credit card they already have on file and wait for it to authorize. At the end of the process, I have to wait another fifteen to twenty seconds for my boarding documents to re-print---regardless of whether or not I need them. All the while, I'm using a touchscreen which has the responsiveness characteristics of a physical keyboard: a physical keyboard that has been dipped in molasses and then coated in gelatin.
As it stands, I suspect that the airlines really have no interest in streamline check-ins. They seem to use it mostly as another opportunity to sell you things.
At our school, we don't earn a degree when we graduate—we earn pi/180 radians
Last international flight I took I walked into the self check-in counter with my online check-in barcode on my phone. Flashed it over a little box which then opened allowing me to put my suitcase in, it printed out a 2 tags: one for the bag and one for me, and then closed whisking away my suitcase to be collected wherever I arrive.
Given I'd already bought the ticket, checked in online with my passport details, verified I am the person in possession of the online ticket, what the hell do they need to do a face scan for?
In addition to the above, I now need to clear security, clear customs (if going overseas), and board the flight or my bag will get removed from the plane, so the risk of some third party checking in a dubious bag is very very small indeed.
Today they want to record my face, tomorrow it'll be imaging my balls. No!
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UK people are used to this, I guess. As a company that works at an airport, they cannot insure that data won't be stored or used for anything else. They "Geek Squad" it if nothing else, aka intelligence agencies paying people to give them copies. Hell, if they use the Internet for this in anyway, technically the data transferred can be sold by the ISP rather than getting a warrant.
They'll be able to figure out who to threaten, intimidate, and beat before you even get on board. You might even be able to be humiliated and bruised without needing to go through security.
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
From the FS: "But a Delta spokerspeson insists the images won't be stored, that they're complying with privacy laws..."
LOL Remember how they promised the literally exact same thing when it came to the special backscatter machines, the photos and such that are generated? Sure enough, it didn't even take long to discover that they lied their collective asses off.
Even after that, who the hell knows if it's been fixed or what, namely because HEY LOOK OVER THERE.
"A government is a body of people usually -- notably -- ungoverned." -Shepherd Book
What about plastic surgery?