British Airways has come under fire over the privacy of passenger information.
Some 2,000 airline staff have access, via iPads, to passenger data in the ‘Know Me’ scheme, which BA argues will create a more efficient and personalised service for customers.
Staff will be able to find out details such as a customer's travel and complaints history, while using Google Images to search for pictures so they can spot a passenger the next time they take a flight.
Around 4,500 passengers a day are expected to be greeted personally by staff by the end of the year. But the initiative has been criticised by privacy groups.
Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said: ‘Fundamentally British Airways have not asked their passengers’ permission to search Google to find their picture or any other information.
‘This goes to show that major international companies now recognise the best way to find out personal information about its customers is to ask Google.’
BA defended the scheme, saying it would help staff, for example, to resolve complaints more efficiently.
A spokesman said: ‘The most recent advancement of the system enables the British Airways team to search Google Images for a photo of specific customers, so they can recognise them as soon as they enter the airport or aircraft and proactively approach them.’
BA’s head of revenue and customer analysis, Jo Boswell, added: ‘Solving problems at the point of failure is a lot more powerful than waiting until after the event. It is more powerful when customers don’t have to repeat their stories to different departments within BA.’
‘High-profile travellers’ and those who have experienced problems are expected to receive particular attention.
Ms Boswell said the carrier was trying to recreate the ‘feeling of recognition you get in a favorite restaurant when you’re welcomed there, but in our case it will be delivered by thousands of staff to millions of customers’.
I think the "the know me" scheme is a great idea when a passenger travels with British Airways, as I think the airline want to create a recognition for its passengers. However again some customers may not want British Airways staff/ company to search their photos on Google, and look through their private information. British Airways should maybe ask their passengers by emails and post if they would let the company access their past travel information, so this would create their journey in the future with BA in an comfortable way. As head of revenue says solving a problem at the point of failure is a lot more powerful then waiting until the end, as this would mean the customer complaints can be solved in a efficient way and the staff would know beforehand how to deal with a particular situation.
I agree Azhar this idea is great and very unique. BA want to create recognition with its customers to create a relationship providing loyal customers because its very hard for an airline to do that when it serves millions of passengers everyday. Though I agree again that people will find it uncomfortable that the airline is searching though their information and photos. They would definatly need consent from the passenger before doing this. I think this is a great idea by BA but will be very difficult to process as there are many issues to this.
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