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In February, a passenger boarding a Singapore Airlines flight noticed something that made him feel uncomfortable: a small camera, which faced him from the in-flight entertainment system.
Since then, airlines have confirmed the installation of cameras and microphones in some aircraft. They claim that the devices are permanently deactivated and that no spying carried out by the airlines has yet been made public. Nevertheless, many passengers are worried about the potential loss of confidentiality that this technology could allow.
US Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Wants answers. He is the co-sponsor of the new Passenger Privacy Act 2019, which aims to ban these cameras on US flights. He recently spoke with OPB's Weekend Edition and stated that the cameras were an improper invasion of privacy.
"They do not have the right to listen to my personal conversations, or to watch me sit," Merkley said. "We have so little privacy in this world anyway, do we really need big brother in the form of the airlines that are watching us?"
The bill would ensure that microphones and cameras are either removed from US planes or permanently covered.
Merkley also sent letters to eight major US airlines and 16 international airlines asking if they had cameras in place, what the devices are for, and whether they're going to activate them later.
American Airlines has confirmed inactive cameras on some of its planes. Southwest and Frontier say they do not have this type of equipment and Alaska Airlines has not yet responded.
Beyond potential privacy breaches by the airlines themselves, Merkley fears that these systems are prone to piracy. Foreign governments could potentially use them to spy on US citizens.
"In a number of countries, they work regularly to turn on the camera and microphone of your cell phone to spy on you with your own device," said Merkley. "It is certainly possible that they use these systems on board.
"My hope is that every airline, for every future flight system that it acquires, buys one without cameras or microphones," he said.
Use the audio player above to listen to the entire conversation from "Weekend Edition".
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