United Airlines “has covered all the cameras in entertainment systems embedded in the backs of the airline’s premium seats,” reports BuzzFeed News.
In a statement, a United Airlines spokesperson said: “As with many other airlines, some of our premium seats have in-flight entertainment systems that came with cameras installed by the manufacturer. None of these cameras were ever activated and we had no plans to use them in the future, however we took the additional step to cover the cameras. The cameras are a standard feature that manufacturers of the system included for possible future purposes such as video conferencing.” United will continue to cover the cameras as it adds premium seats on additional aircraft, the spokesperson said….
A viral photo showing a camera in a Singapore Airlines in-flight TV display sparked an uproar online. After that, BuzzFeed News reported that some seatback screens on American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta flights included cameras too.
American Airlines and Delta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Verge adds that Panasonic executives claimed the cameras “could one day provide improved entertainment features like seat-to-seat video calling and even gaming.
“United claims it did not specially order its screens with webcams.”
of this story at Slashdot.
Source:: Slashdot