Federal bigwigs are turning up the heat on airlines about how they treat the personal deets of travelers, kicking off a review to see if these companies are making a buck by passing around info like a hot potato. The Department of Transportation is zeroing in on the top ten U.S. airlines, grilling them on what they do with customer data - from how they collect it to who gets a peek, WABE reports.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg threw down the gauntlet, saying, “Airline passengers should have confidence that their personal information is not being shared improperly with third parties or mishandled by employees.” The trade group Airlines for America, having their feet held to the fire, said in defense of its members that safeguarding customer privacy is no joke, claiming, “U.S. airlines take customers’ personal information security very seriously, which is why they have robust policies, programs and cybersecurity infrastructure to protect consumers’ privacy,” as reported by WABE.
The feds, not playing around, sent out letters to the usual suspects — Delta, United, American, Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier, Hawaiian, and Allegiant — asking for the lowdown on their data dealing ways, checking on everything from cashing in on passenger info, to ads that follow you around, to keeping hackers at bay, according to WABE.
A couple of these fly boys didn't beat around the bush. Southwest spilled the beans in its privacy policy, admitting it "shares certain customer information with select partners and third parties,” but swears there's a way out for customers who aren't down with sharing. Allegiant, flying solo not part of the trade group, said they think customer data protection is top-tier and they're cool with the government's nose dive into their business. Meanwhile, Delta, United, American, and Alaska just pointed back to the Airlines for America's song and dance.
