Cybersecurity Expert Questions Existence of Embedded Camera On SIA's Inflight Entertainment Systems (yahoo.com) 81
Vitaly Kamluk, an information security expert and a high-ranking executive of cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, went on Twitter with concerns about an embedded camera in Singapore Airlines' (SIA) inflight entertainment systems. He tagged SIA in his post on Sunday, asking the airline to clarify how the camera is being used. Yahoo News reports: SIA quickly allayed his fears of unwanted surveillance by assuring Kamluk that the cameras have been disabled, with no plans to use them in the future. Not all of their devices sport the camera, though -- SIA explained that only some of its newer inflight entertainment systems come with cameras embedded in the hardware. In another tweet, SIA affirmed that the cameras were already built in by the original equipment manufacturers in newer inflight entertainment systems. Kamluk recommended that it's best to disable the cameras physically -- with stickers, for example -- to provide better peace of mind. In 2017, entertainment device developer Panasonic Avionics said it was studying how eye tracking can be used for a better passenger experience. As the report mentions, "Cameras can be used for identity recognition on planes, which in turn, would allow for in-flight biometric payment (much like Face ID on Apple devices) and personalized services."
Nothing a simple sticker could not solve (Score:3)
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Guys! We got the president himself posting here!
Proof positive that msmash is illiterate (Score:1)
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Then you switch to non-metallic, non-conductive, non-toxic, non-flammable opaque marker.
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I wonder if there is also a microphone. My first thought would be to use it as a webcam, which would mean wanting a mic as well.
Eventually companies are going to realize that people find it creepy to have a camera pointed at them. Laptop manufacturers are starting to get it, and include a physical sliding cover (although never anything for the microphones).
Actually microphones are in some ways worse than the camera. With the camera there is usually a light that indicates when it is in use, controlled by the
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Great plan! (Score:3)
If they are known to exist and "disabled", the most easy thing is to put an adhesive sticker on their lens.
Is that all? Now I just have to start carrying stickers on every flight and intentionally disabling a part of the aircraft every time I board. That sounds like a great plan! Not inconvenient or burdensome at all. I'm sure the airlines will be thrilled about people putting stickers all over their airplane that they then need to clean off.
(yes that was sarcasm for the Sheldon Cooper clones reading this)
Video chat from $5 min now on sias air! (Score:2)
Video chat from $5 min now on sias air!
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Video chat from $5 min now on sias air!
Present your face within 10 inches of the screen to accept. If you don't want to accept, then upgrade to a seat where you can move your face further away for the special price of S$2000 per hour of flight.
It's a privacy concern (Score:2)
I mean, if they can tell that you're on the plane in your assigned seat ... I got nothing.
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But what about the Freeze Peach?!
It gonna solve the puzzle. It was RICO. In the repository. With the Logan Act.
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Re: It's a privacy concern (Score:5, Insightful)
So much surveillance, so little benefit.
It's still unsafe to walk down many streets at night. The rich are still above the Law. American workers wages are still depressed by an army of (fully lawful) imported guest worker scabs. The real economy is still in a state of near collapse. The 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th Amendments are still de facto repealed.
But Big Brother is always watching. Don't worry, because Big Brother loves us all.
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I was waiting for an "...and the Earth is still flat", but luckily you stopped at Big Brother.
Re: It's a privacy concern (Score:2)
Pray tell, what do flat Earth trolls have to do with cybernetic totalitarianism?
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CCTV doesn't do much to reduce crime. At best it displaces it.
Random anecdote. A friend bought a 4 channel dashcam system for his car. Covers the front, back and both sides, and works while parked. He was fed up of people hitting his car with their doors in car parks. Eventually he caught someone scratching his paintwork. Of course they had already driven off so he had to get their details from their insurance and put in a claim that way.
Problem is his own insurance premium then went up as the result of hav
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Once police are politically allowed to stop crime they can get crime numbers down.
The "reduce crime" is a real thing as the criminals are in prison for decades due to the math of consecutive sentences.
Same with matching passport images to embassy applications to people entering and then leaving a nation.
Now the trick is to watch them on the flight in and out too
Re: It's a privacy concern (Score:2)
My brother - you know those streets I mentioned, where it's unsafe to walk at night? They're positively bristling with surveillance cameras. Mass surveillance does NOTHING to protect ordinary citizens.
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It's still unsafe to walk down many streets at night.
Only in American cities, and places like Buenos Aires.
Unlike the USA, other western nations have said being able to walk down the street safely at night is important and they've created environments where that's possible.
Wait, what? (Score:2)
Yeah Right (Score:1)
Re:Yeah Right (Score:5, Interesting)
I love how people are just ignoring the obvious reason for it - video calling.
they just want to charge , but didn't actually finish building the system and nobody would use it anyways for their prices.. much like "free wifi" on flights for 10 megs of data or whatever.
charging for calls and all that was always a wet dream for the airlines. problem is nobody wants to pay for it and the systems outdate themselves before they're even in use. like for video calls they would need to choose what app to use nowadays.
on many flights you can call or instant message another seat. another feature nobody uses ever.
my favorite useless feature was usb slot for viewing photos and pdf files on the crap screen. why no movies? because it was outdated already and they want you to view their inflight library, which they give you free anyways. but let's be honest who in their right mind would prepare to read pdf files off an usb stick on a plane? friggin nobody thats who.
this one flight had a smartphone looking wired remote for the inflight system. also totally useless and unly useful because the ui for skipping forward in a movie in the actual device was so goddamn laggy..
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USB port that can charge at more than 2.5W would be nice. Bring your own movies on a phone/tablet. AC socket is even better.
The on-board media libraries seem to vary a lot, but are always kinda small. You get 3 episodes of some TV series in over-compressed 480p. Maybe aviation rated hard drives are really expensive or something.
The reason we ignore it (Score:5, Insightful)
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I love how people are just ignoring the obvious reason for it - video calling.
Bullshit.
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I love how people are just ignoring the obvious reason for it - video calling.
People don't buy that excuse because it did not pass the sniff test.
A sensible location for the video calling camera would be on the handset dock and covered when the headset is docked, visible only when you take out the handset to make calls.
Another sensible setup for video call would be a physical cover for the camera such as a sliding door, so you can cover it to receive a video call even when you happened to be in a not-so-presentable state (putting on make up, just woke up bleary eyed, etc).
Putting the
All this (paid) infotainment on airplanes (Score:2)
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I'm not sure beer is wise, but if they'd sell the people next to me some pot brownies so they can sleep it would really help.
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I'm not sure I'd want to spend a long plane ride next to two Cheech & Chong wannabes. OTOH if I were riding next to Robin Williams, please get the man some cocaine! RIP
Cameras (Score:3)
Just because the airline isn't using the cameras, that doesn't mean that the inflight entertainment system supplier isn't logging activities, and then grabbing the logs when possible.
So the big question is, does the inflight entertainment system supplier have telemetry or other access to their system after fitment?
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Or you know, just even rogue airline employees with a grudge and a boot disk.
Wrong !!! (Score:1)
SIA quickly allayed his fears of unwanted surveillance by assuring Kamluk that the cameras have been disabled
Too late ... I already do not trust you anymore.
These cameras should not be there in the first place.
Just disabling them will not do it !!!
new slogan (Score:2)
SIA's new slogan:
"Singapore Airlines - fly the dystopian police state skies!"
Squawk codes with extra secret? (Score:2)
Like Apple ID (Score:2)
Do they claim they have multiple cameras now to support IR and 3D face based payment system? Or is it "like a cheap knock-off of Apple" which can be fooled with a smartphone photo?
Component re-use (Score:2)
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Hush you! Stop with that honesty and thoughtfulness!
This is about OUTRAGE and INVASION OF PRIVACY... and other whiny bullshit.
Hard to believe they won't be used ... (Score:2)
The reasons and assurances by the companies seem hollow. A natural temptation for any organization would be monitoring of passengers for both marketing and security reasons. On the other hand surely there are more subtle ways to monitor passenger activity so maybe it is as they say.
Thank you (Score:3)
Thank you for the article.
Now we all know what to do with our used chewing gum.
Rogue (Score:2)
As a standard, all cameras should have an LED on them that is lighted when the camera is powered, and that cannot be turned off by software (even by rogue EEPROM load).
If it irritates you, put tape on it, or a little flip cap, or a dimming cap.
This is the only way.