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Your Face or Fingerprint Could Soon Replace Your Plane Ticket (washingtonpost.com)

Posted by msmash on from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.

Headed on a trip? You may soon be able to ditch your boarding pass in favor of your fingers or face. From a report: Delta announced, on Wednesday, a new biometric identification pilot program that will eventually let you use your fingerprints instead of a plane ticket (Editor's note: the link could be paywalled; alternative source). That followed a JetBlue announcement hours earlier that it is testing a program in Boston that will match pictures of customers' faces with the passport database maintained by U.S. Custom and Border Protections. Delta's program, which kicked off at Washington's Reagan National Airport, is in partnership with Clear, a company that already lets customers skip to the front of security lines without identification.

89 comments

  1. Valujet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Valujet used to let you just walk up and give your name, no paperwork required. Those were the days.

    1. Re:Valujet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Valujet used to let you just walk up and give your name, no paperwork required. Those were the days.

      They turned me away when I would walk up to them and tell them my name was Anonymous Coward. ... still works everytime nowadays to get a free prostate exam.

    2. Re: Valujet by AnonymousCoward67 · · Score: 1

      Lucky me then...

    3. Re: Valujet by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      hat followed a JetBlue announcement hours earlier that it is testing a program in Boston that will match pictures of customers' faces with the passport database maintained by U.S. Custom and Border Protections.

      Err...what passport?

      You don't need a passport unless you are planning on leaving the country. I don't have one and don't foresee the need for one anytime in the near future either.

      Hell, with all the terrorist hits in Europe and other places around the globe, and all the drug slaughter in Mexico these days, I have positively no inclination to leave the US any time soon....there's plenty of stuff to see here and with such a wide geographic variety to choose from, I'll never see it all before I die...so, why would I ever need a passport?

      I would posit that the vast majority of Americans do not have a passport.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    4. Re:Valujet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Valujet used to have the best nonstop flights direct to the everglades, although my luggage usually got a little bit smoke damaged ...

    5. Re: Valujet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hell, with all the terrorist hits in Europe and other places around the globe, racial tensions, xenophoby and police overreach in the US, and all the drug slaughter in Mexico these days, I have positively no inclination to leave Brazil any time soon....there's plenty of stuff to see here and with such a wide geographic variety to choose from, I'll never see it all before I die...so, why would I ever need a passport?

      There, FTFY

    6. Re:Valujet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Their lackadaisical policies ran their business right into the ground

    7. Re:Valujet by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      You're doing it the wrong way; clearly with this new biometrics thing, they want you now to give them the finger.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  2. Security Is All Set by micahraleigh · · Score: 3, Informative

    If your finger prints get stolen, just get some new fingers.

    Simple !

    1. Re:Security Is All Set by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      My own sister has trouble telling my brother and I apart and we aren't even twins. Not so much now that we wear our hair different but when we did people, even family, would would always mistake us.

      Facial recognition is a joke.

    2. Re:Security Is All Set by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      You're missing the point. Your face or fingerprint are going to replace your ticket; and now if they are going to take away your ticket, they will take away your face or finger instead.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    3. Re:Security Is All Set by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That's not how it works. They'll tear your finger or your face in half, and then leave you the half with your seat number on it.

    4. Re:Security Is All Set by Altrag · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Depending on the resolution of the camera and the training of the software's neural nets, the facial recognition can actually do much better than a person. There's a lot of stuff our brains just don't focus on, and there's a lot of detail that's too small for our eyes to really notice from any sort of distance, but a good enough camera will capture.

      Of course also entirely possible for someone who knows enough about any particular software and how its been trained to trick it, as you can find plenty of demonstrations of if you google around a bit. And its also entirely possible for two people to really look similar enough that the software can't tell. And finally there will always be those edge cases that the software just wasn't trained on well enough and will confuse it.

      But FR isn't really a joke anymore. We tend to think that people are 100% accurate at recognizing faces (police lineups and the such are based on this assumption) but the data shows that its really not true -- we're actually fairly bad at it.

      But we have a few tricks to compensate: First, we only really pay attention to the faces of people we know. If we look at a picture with 10 people in it, we see John and Sarah whom we know, and 8 "others" that we don't know and don't care about. That's perfectly fine for our day to day activities where we mostly tend to ignore anyone we're not directly interacting with, but it doesn't do so great when you need to match a face against "one of 100,000 people."

      The other trick we use is extra contextual information. If we know for sure that Sarah's at home and we go to the mall, any time we see someone who looks at Sarah, we can immediately shut it out because we know its not her (and of course if she changed her mind and DID come to the mall, this can lead us to not immediately recognizing someone we should be able to.) We can also use context such as knowing what kind of wardrobe our friends wear, the hairstyles they tend to prefer, etc. Our brains put all of this together to come up with a whole picture that just a headshot doesn't give us.

      And of course if all else fails, we're really good at convincing ourselves its not our fault -- the light hit the person in a strange way or oh my goodness John has that exact same t-shirt or any of a dozen other excuses for why we just flat out got it wrong (we tend to do this for all failures of mental process of course, not just facial recognition -- our brains are wired to not admit our own faults.)

      Anyway that turned out a lot more long-winded than I'd planned..

    5. Re:Security Is All Set by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you understand that fingerprints are public, right?

    6. Re:Security Is All Set by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or just steal the fingerprint of someone who doesn't travel

  3. Faceprint... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is this where the TSA slams you to the ground and drags you on the flight?.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re: Faceprint... by TheOuterLinux · · Score: 1

      The people they work for are pretty hard up for biometric data these days (that's a joke; they've got plenty). I can just imagine some Smeagol looking guy in the basement of an intelligence agency hugging a Facebook sever with clothing made out of cellphones and henna tattoos shaped like fingerprints and saying "my precious."

    2. Re:Faceprint... by Woeful+Countenance · · Score: 1
      "It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant"

      In Soviet Russia, accountant fucks you ... no, wait, that's true everywhere.

    3. Re:Faceprint... by ausekilis · · Score: 1

      Just be sure not to shave before attempting to board. The beard (or lack thereof) might throw off their face reader. Plus, if reaching epic level, it could provide some minor cushion for the blow.

    4. Re:Faceprint... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Here I thought bleeding was a United airlines thing.

  4. How about more seating space instead? by blahbooboo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Tickets and electronic tickets work fine. This isn't an issue. How about give us more space on the planes instead of spending money on this stuff?

    1. Re:How about more seating space instead? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure many will argue that these things can be faked very easily.

      They're never going to give you more space on the plane. Quit being silly.

    2. Re:How about more seating space instead? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1 plane = $200 million. It's not as if they can just get a new plane on the spot when passenger demand increases. And who's going to pay for the plane maintenance when customer demand is down?

    3. Re:How about more seating space instead? by Woeful+Countenance · · Score: 1

      "How about give us more space on the planes ... ?" Blame capitalism and efficient markets. If people buy airplane tickets by choosing the cheapest prices, the airlines will provide the cheapest prices. If that means standing-room only, you're getting exactly what you paid for.

    4. Re:How about more seating space instead? by bugs2squash · · Score: 1

      If they feel they can get away with even less space they'll charge the same ticket price and improve their profits. You're not getting what you paid for, you're getting the minimum they can get away with giving you.

      --
      Nullius in verba
    5. Re:How about more seating space instead? by chaotixx · · Score: 1

      They already offer more space, but you have to pay for it. Try premium economy or first class next time.

    6. Re:How about more seating space instead? by judoguy · · Score: 1

      "How about give us more space on the planes ... ?" Blame capitalism and efficient markets. If people buy airplane tickets by choosing the cheapest prices, the airlines will provide the cheapest prices. If that means standing-room only, you're getting exactly what you paid for.

      And that's all I ask of any retail transaction. I fly to Europe from the Midwest 2-3 times a year. My last flight from Paris was in a microscopic seat with a video screen only slightly larger than my phone.

      But I paid less that $500 for the round trip. I looked at that $500 in 1980 dollars and it came to about $158. It's gotten cheaper over the years as it's gotten more crowded.

      If you want cheap, you get cheap. If you are willing to pay more, you get more room. I like having options.

      --
      Peace is easy to achieve, just surrender. Liberty is much harder get/keep.
    7. Re:How about more seating space instead? by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Tickets and electronic tickets work fine. This isn't an issue. How about give us more space on the planes instead of spending money on this stuff?

      This, a QR code can be read in less than a second, biometrics take longer. Australia has had biometric "smart gates" at incoming immigration at most airport, it takes at least 30 seconds to get a reliable read and match it to the biometric information on your passport. Sure this is preferable because it takes a human customs official 2 minutes to do the same job and you can have all gates open all the time. However with tickets and boarding passes this will just slow things down.

      At Heathrow, almost all the check in is automated, if you dont have luggage you don't have to talk to a person until outgoing immigration. However they also keep plenty of staff around to help people with the automated check in.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  5. Everyone should have seen this coming. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Right now you can board pretty much any flight without presenting an ID past the security desk. All you need is for someone to hand you their boarding pass past security. All you need to get past security is a boarding pass on any flight at that airport on that day and your ID.

    This is a way to make sure that only the person whose name is on the boarding pass can actually get onto the plane.

  6. How long? by OYAHHH · · Score: 1

    Before their database of face hashes is hacked by nefarious jerks who will then sell it to the highest bidder?

    While not necessarily technically 100% accurate, you get the drift....

    --
    Caution: Contents under pressure
    1. Re: How long? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Already happens.

      Link to guardian

  7. How convenient! by Anubis+IV · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now they can just use the fingerprints they have on file to unlock your phone during their all-too-common border searches, rather than having to rely on your cooperation.

    1. Re:How convenient! by thegreatbob · · Score: 1

      Already posted my mandatory snark, or i'd +1. There is a great deal to fear from the widespread use/trust of biometrics, and this is only one part of the issue.

      --
      There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
    2. Re:How convenient! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One finger for unlocking phone,
      one (other) finger for planes,
      one finger to rule them all, . . .

    3. Re:How convenient! by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      OTOH, some of us are in the fingerprint database anyway (work in healthcare). They can already do this to me, so I might as well enjoy the benefits. It's not that hard to wipe your stored fingerprints before going through a checkpoint and reprogram them later. I ended up getting Global Entry (Trusted Traveler is included, I always get the PreCheck line) and a concealed carry permit.

    4. Re:How convenient! by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      I've been fingerprinted for two jobs so far. (Both totally legit, to be honest about it. I wouldn't have taken them if it wasn't.) Call me paranoid, but due to this I don't use my fingerprint to unlock my phone.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
  8. Why not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They already ask for an arm and a leg to fly.

  9. soon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How effing stupid do you need to be to suggest this might happen soon.

    1. Re:soon? by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

      From Delta's press release:
      Deltaâ(TM)s biometric boarding pass experience is being tested at DCA, with Phase 1 already underway, allowing eligible Delta SkyMiles Members to forego a paper or mobile boarding pass and hard copy ID in favor of using fingerprints as proof of identity at the Delta Sky Club.

      So, technically, you're right; for at least some people, it's not soon... it's now.

  10. And The Hot Stewardess Said... by dryriver · · Score: 1

    ... oh my you are handsome... Just smile into this camera for me, and I promise that your faceprint will never be stolen by hackers. =)

    --
    Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
  11. The vendor wants to sell a mugshot database by davecb · · Score: 2

    After all, the CIA shouldn't be the only folks with one, that's money left on the table.

    It wil only be sold to nice people like airlines, of course!

    --
    davecb@spamcop.net
    1. Re:The vendor wants to sell a mugshot database by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you think schools have picture days?

  12. A nonexistent problem? by bluegutang · · Score: 2

    They already don't check ID at the gate. They just scan the boarding pass (NOT "plane ticket") like you would scan a bar code in a supermarket. How would getting your face scanned be any faster than this?

    If you want to speed up the boarding process, you could just have more gate agents scanning boarding passes. But this probably wouldn't help, because usually the bottleneck is on the plane, where passengers are finding their seats and loading the overhead compartments. Frequently there is a line in the jetway of passengers whose boarding passes have been scanned, who are waiting for a chance to get into the plane.

    If you really wanted to speed boarding, you would add a second jetway entrance at the back end of the plane, to double the rate at which people could board.

    A simpler fix would be to board the last few rows in the plane first rather than last, so that passengers storing their bags above rows 1-10 wouldn't block passengers who want to get to rows 11-30.

    1. Re:A nonexistent problem? by hazardPPP · · Score: 1

      But this probably wouldn't help, because usually the bottleneck is on the plane, where passengers are finding their seats and loading the overhead compartments. Frequently there is a line in the jetway of passengers whose boarding passes have been scanned, who are waiting for a chance to get into the plane.

      For medium-sized and large aircraft, the cause is this bottleneck is usually the order in which people board. If people entered the plane in an optimal way, it would go faster. People loading up their luggage would not be a problem, since there would be no one (or a minimal amount of people) waiting to get past them. Airlines try to do this via boarding by zones, but it's a bit like herding cats. The guy who should have boarded first maybe shows up last at the gate, thus screwing up the process, and so on.

    2. Re:A nonexistent problem? by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      Airlines try to do this via boarding by zones, but it's a bit like herding cats

      The problem is that they often still go front-to-back instead of back-to-front, and the zones get called in fairly rapid succession so that the first group is still blocking the aisle when the next group is coming in.

    3. Re:A nonexistent problem? by judoguy · · Score: 1

      They already don't check ID at the gate. They just scan the boarding pass (NOT "plane ticket") like you would scan a bar code in a supermarket. How would getting your face scanned be any faster than this?

      What airports do you use? Until I bought ClearMe, I've always had to present ID.

      When I worry about the deep state knowing what I do, I just remember my Amazon purchase history. Any search of that and every detail of my life can be modeled:(.

      --
      Peace is easy to achieve, just surrender. Liberty is much harder get/keep.
    4. Re:A nonexistent problem? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you really wanted to speed boarding, you would add a second jetway entrance at the back end of the plane, to double the rate at which people could board.

      Actually, I was just in Barcelona and flew on Vueling, and they did exactly that.

    5. Re:A nonexistent problem? by dfm3 · · Score: 1

      GP said they never check at the gate. Your id will always be checked at the security line.

      The only time I've ever had a gate agent check ID, was when trying to make an itinerary change to a buddy/standby pass at the gate when nobody in our party had their airline ID badge visible.

    6. Re:A nonexistent problem? by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      For medium-sized and large aircraft, the cause is this bottleneck is usually the order in which people board. If people entered the plane in an optimal way, it would go faster. People loading up their luggage would not be a problem, since there would be no one (or a minimal amount of people) waiting to get past them. Airlines try to do this via boarding by zones, but it's a bit like herding cats. The guy who should have boarded first maybe shows up last at the gate, thus screwing up the process, and so on.

      Actually, the fastest boarding is done without any order at all. Everyone rushes to the gate and you board and take whatever seat you want. You can board an entire plane very quickly, but the passenger dissatisfaction is very high. It's actually the fastest way to board a plane. Of course, dissatisfaction is very high since there's no order and structure and if you're near the end, the chances of finding a set of contiguous seats is low.

      The next fastest way is outside in zoned, so you fill the back window seats first, then the middle window seats and back middle seats, the the front window seats, middle middle seats and back aisle seats.

      The problem is, it's freaking complicated to announce.

      But yes, of the ways they're doing it, back to front would be a significant improvement.

    7. Re:A nonexistent problem? by hazardPPP · · Score: 1

      Actually, the fastest boarding is done without any order at all. Everyone rushes to the gate and you board and take whatever seat you want. You can board an entire plane very quickly, but the passenger dissatisfaction is very high. It's actually the fastest way to board a plane. Of course, dissatisfaction is very high since there's no order and structure and if you're near the end, the chances of finding a set of contiguous seats is low.

      I think I read a paper (? or something like that) once which simulated the scenarios and concluded that the most efficient way of boarding is by seat number, that is, first all of the window seats, then the middle the seats, then the aisle seats, and all of them back to front (relative to the door, i.e. if the door is at the front). This does not require people having pre-assigned seats, but it does require people taking the seats up in order (and not whichever one they like) even if they enter the plane at random. It makes sense.

    8. Re:A nonexistent problem? by Zaelath · · Score: 1

      Yes, if by "read a paper" you mean "watched MythBusters". https://mythresults.com/airpla...

    9. Re:A nonexistent problem? by hazardPPP · · Score: 1

      Actually, I had no idea Mythbusters did this :)

    10. Re:A nonexistent problem? by mjwx · · Score: 1

      They already don't check ID at the gate. They just scan the boarding pass (NOT "plane ticket") like you would scan a bar code in a supermarket. How would getting your face scanned be any faster than this?

      They do check ID at the gate for international flights. However your point stands because reading biometrics against the data in my passport takes around 30 seconds compared to the 2 seconds it takes them to check my name against the one on my boarding pass.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    11. Re:A nonexistent problem? by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      The next fastest way is outside in zoned, so you fill the back window seats first, then the middle window seats and back middle seats, the the front window seats, middle middle seats and back aisle seats.

      Not quite, according to one study done with some college kids as volunteers. The fastest way is alternating outside windows, alternating middle and isle, back to front. The reason for this is that if you alternate the rows, nobody is blocking the person across from them from accessing the overhead bins.

      The problem is, it's freaking complicated to announce.

      Not much worse than what they have now. The last time I flew...United? They had something like 10 zones. They had like 5 premium ones, 2 economy upgrade ones, and then another 3 economy zones. We've already got half the zones needed to set up a system like this. And computers are good at sorting things. Zone 1 - first class. Zone 2a - back half of the plane alternating windows, Zone 3a - middle alternating windows. When 3a is settled, Zone 2b - other half of back windows, Zone 3b other half of middle windows, Zone 4a front windows. Wait till they're in, fill middle back, etc.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    12. Re:A nonexistent problem? by radarskiy · · Score: 1

      "passengers storing their bags above rows 1-10 wouldn't block passengers who want to get to rows 11-30"

      If you board rows 11-30 first, then they are the ones storing their bags over rows 1-10 and you get the delays of the people in rows 1-10 having to go to the back of the plane to find someplace to put their bags.

  13. Mission Impossible... by cmeans · · Score: 1

    So those face and finger "masks" from Mission Impossible, which clearly make this sort of "biometric" security useless, will finally be ignored to the fullest.

    Good job TSA!

    --
    Give a hand, not a hand-out.
  14. Great, a mug shot for tracking us..everywhere by evolutionary · · Score: 1

    Okay, having my face and/or fingerprint in a database is just creepy as heck. This nonsense would be used for tracking us on network cameras all over. Talk about invasion of privacy. This would virtually eliminate it. We already have face database being used by the police in New York as well as Vermont. This is invasion of privacy on a huge scale.

    --
    "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
    1. Re:Great, a mug shot for tracking us..everywhere by evolutionary · · Score: 1

      Making me want to wear a hoodie...

      --
      "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
  15. Please picture to easy to fake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My voice is my passport, verify me.

  16. Privacy law by Aethedor · · Score: 1

    In the US, this may be the case. But not in Europe. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) forbids the processing of this kind of sensitive information in article 9.

    --
    It doesn't have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.
    1. Re:Privacy law by Aethedor · · Score: 1

      My post is only true if a ticked is completely replaced by a biometric one. Like in, the passenger has no other option. When the biometric ticket is an optional one, where the passenger has a choice between a normal ticked and a biometric one, it is allowed.

      --
      It doesn't have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.
    2. Re:Privacy law by Macdude · · Score: 1

      If using biometrics is optional, those who don't will be seen as subversive and face greater scrutiny. "If you haven't done anything wrong..."

      They will also be the first ones bumped/dragged from flights.

      --
      "Grab them by the pussy" -- President of the United States of America
    3. Re:Privacy law by thegreatbob · · Score: 1

      Does this imply (I have not researched yet) that they could possibly sidestep this with something like a $250 non-biometric service fee? Technically available in non-biometric form, but locked behind a paywall that greatly increases the cost of the service?

      --
      There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
    4. Re:Privacy law by Aethedor · · Score: 1

      No, explicitly not. According to article 4(11), permission to the processing of personal information, should be given freely. When a $250 service fee is the consequence of saying no, there is no situation in which I freely can say no. Because there is a non-biometric alternative, the processing of biometric data is not required to offer me the service. Also article 7(4) helps me in saying that the $250 service fee harms my free choice.

      --
      It doesn't have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.
  17. It's an opt-in program by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2

    For everyone who is flailing after reading this, you should know that this is an opt-in only program. "It's opt-in... for now" is a valid argument but if you don't like it, you can avoid airplanes. I've taken one in the last 10 years and frankly I didn't care for the experience and thus have not done so again. You can do the same, it's totally up to you.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:It's an opt-in program by hazardPPP · · Score: 1

      Uhm, no. I can say that about a gazillion things as well. Don't like the government tracking everything you do? Well, you can live in isolation on a mountain top disconnected from the rest of the world, with no electronic devices whatsoever, and no contact with any other human being. It's totally up to you.

    2. Re:It's an opt-in program by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2

      Don't like the government tracking everything you do?

      It's not the government that is tracking everything you do, it's corporations.

      Well, you can live in isolation on a mountain top disconnected from the rest of the world, with no electronic devices whatsoever, and no contact with any other human being. It's totally up to you.

      You can have electronic devices and have privacy, just not networked ones. The ones that are networked will be tracked. There is little reason to not talk to people unless you fear they are going to post it on facebook. Also if you care about people knowing what you buy then you should always use cash.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    3. Re:It's an opt-in program by hazardPPP · · Score: 1

      It's not the government that is tracking everything you do, it's corporations.

      How is that, in practice, any different? I can't see how anyone can say "the government isn't tracking you" post-Snowden. They might not be tracking everyone actively, but they have the means to access information about you more or less instantly, even when Google or Facebook are doing the actual tracking.

    4. Re:It's an opt-in program by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      How is that, in practice, any different?

      Corporations are more likely to abuse the data for their own gain and then sell it.

      I can't see how anyone can say "the government isn't tracking you" post-Snowden.

      They certainly are recording what you do online and your financial transactions, there is no question about that. However, their interest in individuals is rather limited.

      They might not be tracking everyone actively, but they have the means to access information about you more or less instantly, even when Google or Facebook are doing the actual tracking.

      Which is why we need better laws to protect us from corporations, so that people (including the government) cannot simply buy the data from them. Also, if you are giving your information away, that's your own fault. There is no need to use sites like facebook.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    5. Re:It's an opt-in program by hazardPPP · · Score: 1

      Which is why we need better laws to protect us from corporations, so that people (including the government) cannot simply buy the data from them. Also, if you are giving your information away, that's your own fault. There is no need to use sites like facebook.

      You are quite correct in saying there is no need to use Facebook. That is why I do not use Facebook. However, the situation is a bit more complicated than "it's your fault you're giving information away". If I use a "free" service like Facebook or Gmail, it is reasonable to expect that I "paying" for this in some other way. Using the data I generate on these sites to serve me relevant ads for example. However, if I am using Windows 10 - something I paid $150 for - then it is certainly not reasonable for me to think that the OS will collect my data and use it for advertising. "It's my own fault" does not apply - perhaps I need to use Windows 10 for work and have no choice in the matter. Even for "free" services there should be some standard of "reasonableness" for what the provider of the service does with my data. Analyze it to serve me ads? Fine. Sell it off to third parties who then sell it off to who knows who...? Not fine.

      So yes, I wholeheartedly agree about the data protection laws - and no, companies should not be able to hide behind 45-page EULAs that no one reads.

    6. Re:It's an opt-in program by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2

      However, if I am using Windows 10 - something I paid $150 for - then it is certainly not reasonable for me to think that the OS will collect my data and use it for advertising. "It's my own fault" does not apply - perhaps I need to use Windows 10 for work and have no choice in the matter.

      If you have to use it at work then only use it at work. Other than that, you don't have to use it.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    7. Re:It's an opt-in program by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not everybody can easily avoid air planes you f' tard. Some of us have these things called jobs. If we weren't talking a monopoly I might otherwise agree.

    8. Re:It's an opt-in program by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rolling over like that... you expecting someone to pat your belly?

  18. "able" You keep using that word... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't think it means what you think it means.

    It is no a synonym of "forced".

  19. Really!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Delta Airline is running a Pilot Programme.. Ha Ha

  20. I tried that by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 4, Funny

    When I presented my finger, I was attacked by the TSA. Maybe I used the wrong one.

    --
    Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
  21. Yay! by thegreatbob · · Score: 1

    Now I can fly as anyone for whom I can spoof the biometrics. Seriously though, just like any other system, putting too much faith in the security afforded by biometrics is going to bite us in the ass... and hard.

    --
    There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
  22. Kill two birds with one probing by FilmedInNoir · · Score: 1

    Use anal scans and you'll be cleared automatically by security.

    --
    Sig. Sig. Sputnik
  23. Plane Ticket? What plane ticket? by darthsilun · · Score: 1

    I'm issued a boarding pass when I check in. Somewhere there's an e-ticket, possibly in the email confirmation I received after purchasing. I haven't seen a ticket in years.

  24. spirit airlines fee $50 for a photo at the airport by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    spirit airlines fee $50 for a photo at the airport to join or you can upload your own one and it passes our high $tandard$ you can use it.

  25. Most airlines offer more space by Solandri · · Score: 1

    You just have to pay a slightly higher fare for the larger seats.

    If you refuse to pay a little extra for the extra legroom, well you've just demonstrated why the airlines are prioritizing lower fares over more space.

  26. Many places still worth going to by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    You still need a passport to go to Canada, or Australia, or Iceland, or Singapore, or its of there places, all very worth seeing.

    Also to take a cruise, that stops in other countries, or even just goes through them like Alaskan cruises.

    There are many good reasons to get a passport, you may as well get one and open up a world of possibilities...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  27. That's going to require a lot of scanning by Osgeld · · Score: 1

    Your face looks completely different before you board and after being beaten on board

  28. How about more seats instead? Many more seats. by bdwoolman · · Score: 1

    Pardon me while I chuckle gently. This is the way it is going to be, my poor innocent child.

    --
    "No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
  29. Face As Ticket by nick_davison · · Score: 1

    I can't wait for the TSA to start scrawling on my face that I'm singled out for extra molestation.

  30. Fingerprints should not be used for biometrics by markdavis · · Score: 1

    Using fingerprints and allowing a third-party to have access to that data is unacceptable. They can be used to track what people are doing and require registration data (which will be horribly abused) .

    Stand up for your rights, people... and the rights of your children. Once you give this data to the government (or big business), it will NEVER be erased or restricted, regardless of claims or laws- it will go into huge databases and shared between businesses and agencies and used however they want for as long as they want. Even worse, with every crime investigation, you will be searched without probable cause.

    Fingerprints are not foolproof and not a positive ID.

    There is only one safer and practical biometric I know of- that is deep vein palm scan. That registration data cannot be readily abused. It can't be latently collected like DNA, fingerprints, and face recognition can. You have to know you are registering/enrolling when it happens. You don't leave evidence of it all over the place. When you go to use it, you know you are using it every time. And on top of all that, it is accurate, fast, reliable, unchanging, live-sensing, and cheap. If you must participate in a biometric, this is the one you should insist on using.

    Example: http://www.m2sys.com/palm-vein...
    More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    The first step in securing freedom is privacy. When you are tracked, you are losing your freedom, whether you realize it or not.

  31. Face as Ticket by n329619 · · Score: 1

    Officer: Ticket please.
    Me: [Put my face down on the table]
    Officer:[stamps my face]
    Officer: You're good to go. Next Please!

  32. Wait... by gspeare · · Score: 1

    If it's just a pilot program, us passengers won't be allowed to use it anyway!