JetBlue airlines uses facial recognition technology without passenger knowledge

In the tweet thread, a passenger, MacKenzie Fegan, had an international flight. Instead of having her boarding pass scanned, or handing over her passport as one usually would, she was instead instructed to look into a camera.

A Jetblue tweet only 16 words long, has reminded us of the brave new world we live in.

As if to pull a fast one on us, Jetblue Airways decided to implement a new feature, for our convenience of course. Face detection.

When iPhones first announced that they would introduce a thumb-print detection feature to unlock your phone, many raised red flags. Though many initially were paranoid, it is now a commonplace feature.

Newer iPhones can use facial recognition technology to unlock your device. They track the movement of your face and even use this technology for fun in many silly features, like creating customized emojis.

JetBlue has reminded us this technology wasn’t just for our convenience. Technologies like these are used by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Valid questions from MacKenzie followed. “So to be clear, the government provided my biometric data to a privately held company? Did I consent to this? How long is my data held by @JetBlue/ And even if I opt out at the scanners… you already have my information, correct?”

When U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden saw the interaction between JetBlue and MacKenzie Fegan, he gave us all a somber, depressing slap in the face, stating “This is only the beginning”.

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