Did you ever have the feeling you’re being watched?
You know how those seatback cameras got installed on planes at some point? And how the airlines swore up and down that they weren’t recording passengers, and that they were for eventual business videocalls and hypothetical games? Well, in the case of one airline, your fears were founded.
Hong Kong’s top airline, Cathay Pacific, has recently amended their policies to state that they are recording you. They’re also gathering data on how you spend your time in their airports. They’re also brokering that data on your use of competing hotels and airline rewards programs. Fantastic. Well, at least they’re taking “commercially reasonable” steps to protect that data, right?
Except, whoops, they had a massive data breach last year. With the data of almost 9.4 million passengers getting stolen. Coincidentally, they were taking said “commercially reasonable” data security measures at the time.
The airline is also making clear that its best efforts to protect intimate details about passengers is far from foolproof, calling its cybersecurity measures “commercially reasonable.” In November, company executives were called out by Hong Kong lawmakers who accused the airline of misleading the public about the seriousness of a massive data breach which may have compromised the personal information of as many as 9.4 million customers.
Enjoy the friendly skies! It’s not like they once pulled a Natume and misspelled their own name on one of their aircraft, or something.
Source: BoingBoing
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