The company is jointly owned by nine major airlines, most of which are US-based: Delta, Southwest, United, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and Air France.
I hope EU starts some investigation, because it doesn't seem this follows the GDPR for European travelers.
Lufthansa and Air France might have some massive fines incoming.
Maximum GDPR fine is 4% of your revenue. For Lufthansa, that would be ~$1.4 billion, Air France ~$650 million, both of which are roughly their entire net income for one year.
Not sure if anyone has been hit with the maximum ever though, as everyone just keeps track of the dollars and not percentage of revenue.
AFAIK no one has triggered the biggest fines (yet?). Can't wait for it to happen.
I think the biggest one by value is Meta with €1.2b. Although their revenue is in the $150b+ range, so not maxed out.
They better, why tf is Air France collaborating with these ICEholes?
Air Canada
Wtf Air Canada? Air France too
Assuming the data doesn't include international departures or arrivals (only their domestic counterparts), would GDPR even apply?
Can we get the courts to determine that as an "unreasonable search" already?
Yeah so bad news. The government has routinely purchased data like this as an end run around the 4th Amendment. The data is collected by a third party, often with the customers "consent".
This is why we need stricter privacy controls around our data. The fact that this data was collated in the first place is problematic. The fact that it's being sold for profit is abhorrent.
The mental trick that keeps on giving. When government does it - it's automatically bad, but when a private business does it - it's between the business and its customers. Then all the gov't needs to do is become a customer on the B2B side.
It’s like that because we vote in weak mediators that don’t do shit.
True. But I think to a great extent that's the case because business funds the weak ones and spends good money to convince us to elect them. Then they keep the profits rolling. Rinse and repeat.
The fact that it's being sold for profit is abhorrent.
Not even just profit now, but literally for the furtherance of the cruelty and suffering being dispensed by ICE
The same courts that the government routinely ignores, and that has a sham, corrupt supreme court at it's head? Yeah, good luck with that, unfortunately.
Flock operates thier ALPR cameras the same way. They own the data but will happily hand it over to law enforcement. Cities are contracting with Flock to install the network of ALPRs.
If we had cops on the street recording everyone's license plate as they drove by I'm sure a savvy lawyer could argue successfully that it's an illegal search. Somehow, when a private company does it and makes the database accessible it's not?
yo, the exec has said they're actively trying to suspend habeas corpus. we're going back in time now. i thought the tea tariffs on the UK would have been enough symbolism to work with.
No you will have to physically do it yourself (a a group). Law is dead.
Nice racket. First you pay the airlines for their tickets, then the ICE with your tax dollars to buy your data from said airlines.
Soon they will be taking Americans to their death, too, and I assume no one will do fucking shit as usual.
Did Germans do shit about Hitler? Nope, it was the rest of the world. And, well, one German who did shit about Hitler.
Too bad he didn’t act sooner.
It’s just the TIP of the ICEberg.
IBM supplied Nazis with the machines and punch cards to track the population. Throwing that out there for no particular reason. What where we talking about?
Cue the airlines come with hand-wringing to beg the Feds for more bailouts because "nobody is flying anymore."
Parasitical business practices should lead to market exit.
Since when does a government agency have to pay for receiving a companies data? I guess there is no law for allowing ICE to access that data, and then they just pay instead?
If I had to guess, obtaining the data by force may require a court order or legal process.
Buying data that someone else is willingly selling bypasses those steps.
Yeah that's one of the things that stood out as what the hell.. the companies already have the data, if ICE wanted it legally they shouldn't need to pay... Really shows how shady they're being.
At least for foreigners travelling into the US, you’re willingly giving the US govt most of this information up front anyway via the APIS. And paying for the privilege!
Since always, without a subpoena. Until PRISM, at least.
I'd think that they already have that due to the TSA.
Not the financial data I guess. Or perhaps none of it can be shared across agencies.
I drive everywhere. Yeah, I know, fuck cars. But honestly they're tracking everyone's movement. Have you noticed all of the intersection cameras that have popped up everywhere? Fuck the authoritarian surveillance state.
Intersection cameras, license plate readers, face scanning. Expect some or all of it everytime you get behind the wheel.
They don’t need cameras. Your phone is constantly connecting to cell towers and broadcasting its unique identifier. Those towers keep a record of who has connected. So long as your in range of 3 or more towers they can triangulate your location.
You got one of those dongles, like State Farm's Drive Safe and Save program? Carry a cell phone? You're still being tracked.
Jesus... well, avoid flying trough US if possible.
Can't wait to read about the Palintir FAA merger
Someone trusts flying in these conditions? That's insane.
Even if I trust the flying itself, I don't trust not being detained upon entering the USA. I'm not flying there again anytime soon.
Even as a white male US born citizen, I also don't see myself flying back any time soon. I'm nobody, but I've run my mouth against fascists online enough that I've probably triggered some flag in the system.
Yea I feel the same, especially after reading this article.
There are flights not in or out of the US...
As long as programs like 5-Eyes exist you just have to assume every time you interact with a company it is in the hands of all of the governments.
Everyone is stealing your data and selling it. Feeding it into AI. Building profiles on you to better send you ads.
Yes. Literally every company. There's no regulation so to them it's free money.
Do foreign airlines that come into the country do this? Would an EU plane be safe from this bullshit?
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
