Last week a passenger on a Singapore Airlines flight took to Twitter to post a photo of his seatback entertainment system which appeared to be fitted with a small camera, leading to public outcry online.
The Tweet, which has since gone viral said “just found this interesting sensor looking at me from the seat back on board of Singapore Airlines. Any expert opinion of whether this is a camera? Perhaps @SingaporeAir could clarify how it is used?”.
Singapore Airlines was quick to alleviate fears, saying that while the newer inflight entertainment systems do have a camera provisioned and embedded in the hardware BUT they have no plans to enable or develop any features using the cameras.
Just found this interesting sensor looking at me from the seat back on board of Singapore Airlines. Any expert opinion of whether this a camera? Perhaps @SingaporeAir could clarify how it is used? pic.twitter.com/vy0usqruZG
— Vitaly Kamluk (@vkamluk) February 17, 2019
Apparently, the cameras have been permanently disabled.
According to Skift, Singapore Airlines aren’t the only airline to have cameras installed in their seat-back entertainment systems.
Some American Airlines and United Airlines planes also have the same entertainment fit out.
All three airlines say the cameras are not in use.
Apparently the companies who make entertainment systems are installing cameras to offer future options such as seat-to-seat video conferencing. Hmmm ok.
Basically, the cameras weren’t requested by the airline – they were put there by the manufacturers.
There are still a lot of disgruntled people on Twitter asking why the cameras aren’t physically covered if they are ‘disabled’, as all three airlines say they are.
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