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I'm pretty sure many airlines already have cameras looking at your face. The last few international United Airlines flights I was on had IR LEDs just below the

I'm pretty sure many airlines already have cameras looking at your face. The last few international United Airlines flights I was on had IR LEDs just below the seat entertainment screen shining in my face the whole flight. I worked for an 3D camera company at the time and was pretty tuned in to IR (~850 nm) LED's dim red glow. There is no reason for them being there unless there are cameras looking at your face.

3JPLW 7y ago
But why?
- blackguardx 7y ago
  They probably put it in to do gaze tracking in the hopes of selling that data back to movie studios/advertisers. I'm not sure if they currently sell this data, but I'm sure we will find out when/if some disclaimer flashes on the screen in the beginning of the flight.
  - tracer4201 7y ago
    Hopefully it doesn’t catch on too much. I’d boycott any airline that I knew was doing that.
- pbhjpbhj 7y ago
  Would security services pay for good 3D scans of all people taking airline flights. Seems a possibility to me.
bhaile 7y ago
"As with many other airlines, some of our premium seats have in-flight entertainment systems that came with cameras installed by the manufacturer," a United Airlines spokesperson said. "None of these cameras were ever activated and we had no plans to use them in the future, however, we took the additional step to cover the cameras." https://www.zdnet.com/article/united-airlines-covers-up-infotainment-seat-camera-following-passenger-outrage/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/united-airlines-covers-up-info...
bigiain 7y ago
Next minute: DHS adds PostIt notes to the list of banned items in aircraft cabins...
pauldino 7y ago
I flew a United 787-9 recently and noticed an IR LED too, but I assumed it was a proximity sensor (when you bring your hands close to the bottom of the screen the home button, headphone jack, and USB charging port light up).
fastball 7y ago
It's an IR proximity sensor, at least on the Panasonic systems. Some of the Thales systems do have webcams.

3JPLW 7y ago

But why?

blackguardx 7y ago
They probably put it in to do gaze tracking in the hopes of selling that data back to movie studios/advertisers. I'm not sure if they currently sell this data, but I'm sure we will find out when/if some disclaimer flashes on the screen in the beginning of the flight.
- tracer4201 7y ago
  Hopefully it doesn’t catch on too much. I’d boycott any airline that I knew was doing that.
pbhjpbhj 7y ago
Would security services pay for good 3D scans of all people taking airline flights. Seems a possibility to me.

bhaile 7y ago

"As with many other airlines, some of our premium seats have in-flight entertainment systems that came with cameras installed by the manufacturer," a United Airlines spokesperson said. "None of these cameras were ever activated and we had no plans to use them in the future, however, we took the additional step to cover the cameras." https://www.zdnet.com/article/united-airlines-covers-up-infotainment-seat-camera-following-passenger-outrage/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/united-airlines-covers-up-info...

bigiain 7y ago

Next minute: DHS adds PostIt notes to the list of banned items in aircraft cabins...

pauldino 7y ago

I flew a United 787-9 recently and noticed an IR LED too, but I assumed it was a proximity sensor (when you bring your hands close to the bottom of the screen the home button, headphone jack, and USB charging port light up).

fastball 7y ago

It's an IR proximity sensor, at least on the Panasonic systems. Some of the Thales systems do have webcams.