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American Airlines Has Cameras In Their Screens Too (buzzfeednews.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BuzzFeed News: A viral photo showing a camera in a Singapore Airlines in-flight TV display recently caused an uproar online. The image was retweeted hundreds of times, with many people expressing concern about the privacy implications. As it turns out, some seat-back screens in American Airlines' premium economy class have them, too. Sri Ray was aboard an American Airlines Boeing 777-200 flight to Tokyo in September 2018 when he noticed something strange: a camera embedded in the seat back of his entertainment system. The cameras are also visible in this June 2017 review of the airline's premium economy offering by the Points Guy, as well as this YouTube video by Business Traveller magazine.
American Airlines spokesperson Ross Feinstein confirmed to BuzzFeed News that cameras are present on some of the airlines' in-flight entertainment systems, but said "they have never been activated, and American is not considering using them." Feinstein added, "Cameras are a standard feature on many in-flight entertainment systems used by multiple airlines. Manufacturers of those systems have included cameras for possible future uses, such as hand gestures to control in-flight entertainment." After Twitter user Vitaly Kamluk saw a similar lens on Singapore Airlines and tweeted photos of the system last week, the airline responded from its official Twitter account, saying the cameras were "disabled." Still, the airlines could quell passengers' concerns by covering the lenses with a plastic cover, if indeed there is no use for the camera.
American Airlines spokesperson Ross Feinstein confirmed to BuzzFeed News that cameras are present on some of the airlines' in-flight entertainment systems, but said "they have never been activated, and American is not considering using them." Feinstein added, "Cameras are a standard feature on many in-flight entertainment systems used by multiple airlines. Manufacturers of those systems have included cameras for possible future uses, such as hand gestures to control in-flight entertainment." After Twitter user Vitaly Kamluk saw a similar lens on Singapore Airlines and tweeted photos of the system last week, the airline responded from its official Twitter account, saying the cameras were "disabled." Still, the airlines could quell passengers' concerns by covering the lenses with a plastic cover, if indeed there is no use for the camera.
Probably quite a lot of them do, with the screen units being integrated and similar units used across airlines.
I really doubt they are being used though, or else you would see porn based on captures from them.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I get that privacy should be expected in certain places. But on a airline, you already have a seat that is assigned to you. You will be in that seat for most of your journey. If you really need privacy for something while flying, you can use the lavatory for that. What are you concerned about someone seeing you doing while you're on a plane? We have security cameras on many public buses and trains, and airplanes are not that different in their current application.
If you really want to put some electric tape over it to make yourself feel better while in flight, go for it. But why are we expecting privacy from a company that already has a lot of personal information on us?
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
can you see this gesture now?
I'm honestly not worried in the slightest about someone having a video of me being bored and uncomfortable for 9 hours at a time. I guess if someone is really concerned about this they can always travel with a roll of electrical tape.
Note to self: Make sure to bring electrical tape and sewing scissors (less than four inches) next time I fly.
My craptop has a camera and I'm not paranoid about some NSA prick somehow watching me take a shit while catching up on the latest VanossGaming video. Joke's on them if they do.
We ached for video phone calls for decades, but now that it's dead-easy we're all monkey about it. Grow up, humanity. Nobody cares about your mundane life.
In a world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king--and the two-eyed man is a heretic.
Video phone calls: a solution without a problem. Very few people want to show their tired face to others when talking to them or have to preen for the camera.
I don't think rational discourse is possible with people offering something called "premium economy".
When the transponder gets set to 7500 do all the cameras get activated?
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Good.
... $15.00 Camera Disablement Fee.
hacked/collected photos are useful for subsequent crimes or trolling
You poor little thing. Are you one of those young'uns whose parents put your whole embarrassing childhood on-line, causing you end-less embarrassment from every new contact you had growing up? "Spread the sour tummy!" is your goal now? Make the others feel as bad as you do, attempting to convince everyone to fail the same way you or yours did?
Grow up. Privacy is there because you and others will make something common in the past and present illegal/immoral/non-politically-correct in the future. Those who did not attempt to retain privacy in their lives will be punished for these things, by the companies, states, neighbors, peers, or just more downers like you. Are you not seeing what is going on around you?
Privacy is not something others give or allow you. It is something you yourself fight for, to acceptable levels, at all times possible. Once you "I don`t care", and give up the information or item to anyone, you give up your own privacy. No one else did.
Chew gum at while boarding. If you see a camera in the seat back, you know what to do.
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
I've resolved to bring electrical tape with me the next time I fly to cover them.
I don't know of anyone who wished for video calls or uses them now that webcam hardware is so commonly available. I know of people who go to some effort to disable video in their calls (apparently including Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg who probably has access to a lot of webcams given how many people still use Facebook).
Apparently the NSA and their many partners do, and trading data about people is very big business as well. The evidence from Ed Snowden alone is far more compelling than your summary and actually informative. Mass surveillance simply doesn't work as you claim. As Snowden, Greenwald, Poitras, and others have told us for years: mass surveillance is non-discriminatory. Data is collected en masse (NSA's strategy is "collect it all" not "collect some of the data"), decrypted, indexed, retained, and searched through later. The impression I got from Snowden's description was that much like someone using a web search engine, what's deemed interesting (what somebody "cares about") is decided at search time. So it's impossible to conclude that "Nobody cares about your mundane life" because the data you generate helps a lot of businesses every day. Another example is "LOVEINT"—people with access to this collected data using it to track what their love interests or spouses (current or former in both cases) are doing, perhaps another more clear-cut counterexample to your evidenceless claim.
As I write this your post is moderated "informative" but I can't find a single part of your post that points to any information or backs any of its claims with evidence.
Digital Citizen
If you can watch the facial expressions and demeanor of every passenger, you could pick out the ones that are about to go batcrap crazy.
deployments.
An old college roommate looked me up a few days ago. He suggested a skype call. It would be good to see him all this time later- 20+ yrs since the last visit.
I do have a cover over my laptop(s) built-in cameras and don't generally have the drivers loaded. I know cheese never works with it.
But 99% of the time, voice is sufficient.
Very few people want to show their tired face to others when talking to them or have to preen for the camera.
Feeling the need to preen for a camera says more about you than it does everyone else.
We don't like being real. The moment someone's out on the street because their apartment block is on fire in the middle of the night, they become a target for the local TV news where they get judged for their messed up hair and half-asleep expression.
In a world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king--and the two-eyed man is a heretic.
I've worked in in-flight entertainment (IFE). I can say that yes, the hardware is generally shared by multiple airlines. However most Tier-1 airlines will push for, and some will demand completely custom feature sets and UIs for their entertainment systems. The IFE business is about being able to say yes to what the airlines want now, and being able to predict what they want in the future, and delivering it on schedule. The most important (and backwards) thing is that the airlines drive the requirements for these systems, So if the airline says "it was just what was available" then that's false -- if they really didn't want a camera, there wouldn't be a camera. Period. There's a lot of other potential privacy related concerns with in-flight entertainment too. There's various ways to for the IFE system to be able to greet you (especially the premium seat customers) when you arrive and sit down, such as "Hello Mr. X, would you like to request your usual beverage before takeoff?". Know that the airlines want to track what you're watching too -- mostly in aggregate so they can keep the most popular stuff around, but I'm sure it won't take them long to try to personalize that for you too (because, clearly passengers want that, right?). The airlines are all about monetizing IFE systems, just like everything else about flying. Things like forced ads are the beginning. Personalizing the ads to you as a next step.
Problem solved.
I tend to use them for unexpected remote troubleshooting in the sense of, "show me you doing the thing with the machine, and I'll let you know if I'm coming in to work at 2 AM to save your ass."
People have laptops in their bedrooms, where they get changed and have sex. They rightly demand that the built-in webcam can't be used to spy on them.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Nobody cares about your mundane life
Until they have a reason to. And when they do find a reason, all they need to do is mine your permanent records and manufacture your custom crime. With a permanent record of your every association, every conversation, every movement, every purchase, every transaction, and soon, every glance, you don't even stand a chance.
We accidentally had a microphone in your thermostat ... we accidentally had a camera in your screen ...
Companies are so accident prone these days.
However, it is inconceivable that they have 'never' been activated by someone.
"Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
With in-flight wifi on its way to becoming ubiquitous, and everyone already has a screen with them at all times, the airlines should just remove IFE's completely. There is no reason for them to exist anymore. Give us good wifi and a charger port at every seat, and we're good to go. All of us.
But if there is going to be an IFE, at least outfit it with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, so we can use it as a heads-up screen while we charge our phones.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
Don't be absurd. Advertisers, political campaigns, and various other groups absolutely care about building the most complete profiles of individuals as possible. The better they can profile people, the better they can manipulate them into buying their products or voting for their candidate.
This has nothing to do with bathrooms, grow up.
On an airplane, you are largely confined to your seat for several hours. Having a camera in your face all that time is just weird, and having to take someone's word that "it isn't on" just doesn't cut it. All kinds of people say things for all kinds of reasons; one need only ask, "why is there a camera here?" Once you do this it's clear that a camera enables pictures to be taken. Do you want your picture taken? Did anyone ask?
There's another issue too. The seat back ahead of you, where these in-flight entertainment systems usually reside, is very much in your personal space. If a person parks their mug that close to your face, you'd better know them. If a photographer places a camera that close to you, they better have asked for your permission.
So: Consent, privacy, and invasion of personal space. This stuff isn't complicated. And the camera can be there and I can imagine uses for a camera. It just needs to be under the passenger's control. With no ambiguity, no concerns, no neglect for the passenger's dignity.
phones. 99% of all people I see tape their computer's camera and cry out about airplanes have never blocked their phone's camera as they roam the public filming everything one does.