[BeckyBoop]

I was thinking more of her being pulled up for gross miscoduct by putting the company into disrepute.

[Papillion53]

Canucklad @16:17

In my earlier post I have asked Victoria the question which I think will answer yours re the collection rate.

Yes great that FDoS sent the email, suppose my suggestion for someone to contact WH Smith has nothing to do with it! 😉 but I did ask BT earlier in this thread if they could contact BAA press office and nothing came of it.

Have we, as customers of the airlines, given them (the airlines) permission to use the personal information they have collected from us when we make our flight bookings to these retailers. I know they can share our info with immigration etc., but I don’t think that would include retailers! So if this is the case, then the blame would fall back to the airlines for not being transparent with us and allowing non-essential companies such as WH Smith, access to information on an airline issued document, even though it may just be our flight number. And that leads me to another of my earlier questions, does the Retailer scanner only scan for flight number or does it scan everything on the barcode?

Maybe FDoS could send another email? 🙂

Or maybe BT could take this up as these are perfectly valid questions from a group of concerned travellers.

[canucklad]

I’m agreeing with you Becky….

The technology that companies have to track on-line comments about them is staggering…..we have a small but significant team that monitor FB/Twitter etc for anything that can be deemed to be “Brand Risk” ….once identified they are skilled to follow up and resolve the issue before it becomes a viral “fact” so to speak !

[FormerlyDoS]

“So if this is the case, then the blame would fall back to the airlines for not being transparent with us and allowing non-essential companies such as WH Smith, access to information on an airline issued document, even though it may just be our flight number. And that leads me to another of my earlier questions, does the Retailer scanner only scan for flight number or does it scan everything on the barcode?”

I can’t see why the airline is to blame, if we hand our boarding pass to the retailer.

Also, WHS stated clearly that they do not retain any information apart from the destination. Obviously, the scanner will decode the whole bar code, but I interpret their response as being that they only transfer the destination into their database.

So I don’t think a further letter is justified, they answered my three questions directly and openly.

[canucklad]

Morning Papillion…..

Let me first state that I’m not an expert on this subject, I can only relate it from my own perspective within the confines of my role within my company……

And without letting the cat out of the bag ( Who I work for) although I’m sure one or two have you have possibly worked it out ! I will try and answer your question….

When you book a flight with an airline you enter into a contract with that airline. they are obliged as guardians of you’re personal data to protect it, and being transpararent inform you of who they are going to share the information with ie immigration and security authorities

i.e …why FR inform you to include info for the Spanish authorities

The relationship changes when you become a “client” i.e sign up to theier FFP , at this point the relationship changes and the airline will request that they can market to you and more importantly share your data with associated partners….that you might be interested in!

Just booking a flight would not entitle them tp pass on this information.
and if they do so without your consent , then they have broken the law and someone please correct me if I’m wrong Both the company and the individual responsible for guarding your data ( data controller) are liable to criminal prosecution .

I always say NO to the last request (sharing data) because you really begin to start to lose control of who has your personal information…

If you agree to my companies request your data could be shared with organizations as diverse as WWF-Man U- Jongluers etc….Now I’m confident that my company acts responsibly with peoples data because we are almost paranoid about protecting our ” Brand Reputation”

And remember, not all companies act with integrity…..you would be surprised how much companies pay for these lists of data! it’s a secret little business within its self….

And, some sail close to the wind….asking you to opt out rather than opt in…

have I answered your question P ?

And remember, for most of us, our BC also has our FFP details, so there is a crossover of information….

[MartynSinclair]

FDoS, we may be handing the information over, but I would certainly like to be in a position to know exactly what information is being handed over.

So what exactly does the bar code store – seems to be more than we think….

[Papillion53]

Canucklad – yes I understand all the opting out clauses etc., but I think you have answered my question in that in simply buying a ticket and not being a member of the FFP which is a different question, it does not then give them the right to share your personal data with e.g. WH Smith as you will not have given them permission.

I am also aware of the tricks with the opt in and even sneakier opt out boxes!

Thanks for this Mr C!

FDoS – as you have so often reminded others, we cannot “interpret” what we may think someone has implied. I agree with MS and I do think this does need further explanation.

[FormerlyDoS]

WHS’s reply is clear, no interpretation required

“We do not record any personal data from customers through this process, simply the flight destination and the products purchased during the transaction.”

My interpretation of what they do with the destination data is not important, as the key issue is their confirmation they do not store any personal data that could be used to link passenger to destination.

As to what is on the bar code, you will need to use the website I posted earlier (or a similar one) to find out.

I posted the fields I understood from my easyJet card.

[Papillion53]

So your comment “but I interpret their response ….” , means what then?

[FormerlyDoS]

It means I was taking a guess to how they handle the non-personal data (destination), which is completely irrelevant to concerns about personal data.

[Papillion53]

Hmmm … Let’s see ….” Interpret” , “guess” …

You said “Obviously, the scanner will decode the whole bar code, but I interpret their response as being that they only transfer the destination into their database”

Reads like a lot of interpretation and guessing to me!

[FormerlyDoS]

“Reads like a lot of interpretation and guessing to me!”

One guess, but irrelevant to the subject of data protection, since WHS stated in the email that no personal data is retained, only the destination and product are kept.

And I would expect to see a few signs at the point of sale becoming visible over the next weeks.

[LostInSpace]

I recently stumbled across this thread, and I thought that you may be interested in my knowledge of this area.

I am an IT Retail Consultant with experience of setting up tills within airports, although not specifically for WHS. The airport retailers pay a commission on sales to the airport, and the commission rate is dependent upon the destination of the customer – either Domestic, EU or Rest of the World. The retailers hold a file of all the flight numbers and the destination countries on the till, and when they scan the boarding pass they are reading the flight number and thus capturing the destination country against the transaction, so that they can report the sales and pay the correct commission to the airport.

This should be the only reason that you are asked to produce a boarding card when making a purchase in an airport, although I obviously cannot confirm that any particular retailer does not read any additional information from the boarding card – but I have never dealt with one who does.

[Papillion53]

LostInSpace@16:57

Thank you. Does that mean that the scanners can be programmed to only read the flight numbers off the boarding cards?

[MartynSinclair]

out of curiosity, why does the commission rate to the airport differ between destinations??

[Author]

Posts