sing-along

I did see the FA app on 16AUG. I was on the evening flight from IAH-YVR.

There was a problem with my powerport. I was in F. The flight attendant came by with with her phone and pushed my seat on the seat map on your phone and there was may name and status. She said as a 1K here is an apology card.

I asked her if she could see if I was a million miler and she said no. She then asked if I was a million miler and I said yes (I did not tell her I was a 2MM).

Interesting app. However let's see how they plan to use it.

Cheers

Silver Fox

Spot on!

Boo_Radley

If there's no live ground link, how are credit cards being authenticated when you buy stuff in the air? If the answer is "after you land", that seems like a bit of a loophole.

This is the only concrete information we have thus far. Honestly, I don't see what the issue is with giving an FA this information. For those who are concerned about having the information on an "electronic device" when it used to be on paper, how do you think the information ended up on that paper in the first place? Typewriter? Worrying about FAs having this information misses the bigger picture in terms of identity protection.

EWR764

Same way they are currently authenticated (cached and uploaded in batches after landing), and have been since CO and UA began using handheld devices. And yes it is a loophole that people certainly have exploited.

NewportGuy

Yup, and all you need to do is read some posts here to see why it is so common and easy. No one cares, at least those who have never had their identity stolen. Let that happen ONCE, and I promise you attitudes would change.

Silver Fox

Oh do stop twisting it for goodness sake. People do care. I care if someone, especially me, gets their identity stolen. The fundamental point is that if someone is clever enough to steal it there is pretty much nothing that you can do to stop it. Do not confuse that with not caring. Which is what you are doing.

haddon90

i second this. i care if it gets stolen. but if someone wants to steal it, there is nothing i can do to stop it.

also, the info is not that sensitive. i don't see my address or social security number on there. or my credit card information. this is really not that big of a deal.

Mike Jacoubowsky

I would also advise not traveling, or if you do, pay for things with cash only and use a fake ID at hotels. Seriously, almost wherever you go away from home, odds are that ID theft on the plane is the least of your concerns. I have (had; the CC company removed it) a $34,000 charge from Saudi Arabia that tells me that using my CC at either NBO (Nairobi Airport) or the restaurant at Karen (the ranch behind the movie "Out of Africa") are a whole lot more of an issue than any plane flight I'll ever take.

If you want to minimize the risk of CC or ID theft, stay home. Do not travel! A reasonable but ironic conclusion for an FT thread.

mreplus

I've seen the app and phone up close. The phones have elaborate security measures in place (cant take a screenshot, cant use non company email, cant text message, cant run non permitted apps, etc) and the app was designed with security and privacy in mind.

As a customer I felt really good after the look I got.

coolbeans202

I had a broken powerport in F on my flight today. I thought about mentioning it to the flight attendant but decided not to bother since I figured I'd get a smile and nod, and some sort of mention about someone will check it out eventually. Next time, I'll actually say something.

hawkxp

jeeeese- I leave Specialty flying mags for the crew all the time. These have my name and address on them. Got a feeling that any UA employee could get that info

NewportGuy

No, the point is stealing all your info (including credit card and bank info) is far easier and much simpler through one of those devices than trying to penetrate the firewalls and security in place on other sources. Once you're in on one of these devices, you can follow it direct into the mainframe, facing far less security. These devices serve no genuine purpose, and compared to the risk they open, they are incredibly dumb to use, a toy to make them look high-tech.

People can hack into your car and take control, and it is only a matter of time before someone ACTUALLY gets control of a plane. All because Apple has convinced us that it is COOL to have those things, without actually showing how they make our lives better. NEED should trump most everything else, and so far I've seen nothing that says these toys are NEEDED.

notquiteaff

<Chuckle> is this the same company that uses four digit pins as passwords?

JBord

This may be a true statement. However, a recent experience has taught me that one need not necessarily access a system to cause harm.

I had a charge show up on a credit card that I rarely use (maybe a dozen times per year), and have stored nowhere online. The charge was online from a well-known store that I do not have a saved account with. At the time the charge was made, the card was actually expired and the new card had been activated.

In speaking with the security department while having the charge removed, the only explanation was that someone had guessed the card number and expiration date, and was targeting expired cards, that are kept open for some time to cover delayed charges, refunds, etc.

I don't know how the person would have matched this up with other information like my name, address, etc. The only other explanation I can come up with is that the credit card company was hacked, it's the only place all this info would be in one place.

Two lessons for me: 1) you are never completely safe, and 2) having someone steal my name and address from an app like this is the least of my personal data concerns.

NewportGuy

Actually there are scanners that can read your credit card info just by being near you. No guessing of anything (seriously, someone actually suggested that a 16 digit number was "guessed"???), and getting past PINs is just as easy. No, the fault was probably with the merchant, but there's no way they wanted to admit it.

This is my point. WHY do we go out of our way to make things easier on hackers and identity thieves all to use "cool" electronic toys that save us all of 4 seconds, if that? Totally unnecessary, and overall foolish.