DOT Wants To Know How Big Airlines Use Passenger Data

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced it will conduct a review of the data practices of the country’s ten largest airlines, amid concerns over potential misuse of customer information for upselling, overcharging, targeted advertising, and third-party data sales, as well as the security of systems handling sensitive data such as passport numbers. From a report: The probe will look at air carriers’ policies and procedures to determine if they are safeguarding personal info properly, unfairly or deceptively monetizing it, or sharing it with third parties, the agency said yesterday. If they’re indeed doing anything “problematic,” they can look forward to scrutiny, fines, and new rules, says the DOT. “Airline passengers should have confidence that their personal information is not being shared improperly with third parties or mishandled by employees,” said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“This review of airline practices is the beginning of a new initiative by DOT to ensure airlines are being good stewards of sensitive passenger data.” The ten airlines going under the magnifying glass are Delta, United, American, Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier, Hawaiian and Allegiant.

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