Updated (see second footnote)
Another day, another data breach. Revelations that data held by Cathay Pacific has been “compromised” do worry me a little, as I have flown with the airline several times, and plan to do so again next month.
But, as a frequent traveller, I’ve got used to the idea that many people have the details of my credit cards, passport and much, much more.
Every time we book a flight or check in at an airport, book a hotel room or rent a car — in fact, every time we use our credit cards be it for travel or shopping — we are giving away our data.
In fact, you are doing it every time you get on the internet.
If you don’t have a passport, you can’t travel very far. But if you do, you are providing your personal details to your government (which already has it through myriad other means) and the government of every place you ever visit.
In some places, you are required to give up even more than numbers. When I lived in the United Arab Emirates, I was obliged to provide not just my fingerprints, but a full hand scan. And, later, they scanned my retina, and routinely did so as I came and went from the country
The government of the UAE, and anyone who has or gains access to their computers, thus has a unique means of identifying me.
That’s more than the Australian government has. Or maybe it isn’t, because I really don’t know whether they, or officials in any of the several dozen other countries I’ve visited, have surreptitiously snapped a picture of my eyeballs too.
Privacy is a thing of the past — and there’s nothing you or I can do about it, except hope that the information “they” have about us is never used against us.
Footnote: the good news in this case is that Cathay Pacific says while credit-card numbers were stolen, the three- or four-digit codes required to verify them were not. Even so, I’ll be closely scrutinising my upcoming Visa and American Express statements.
Footnote 2: In a kind-of-related incident, I — and many others — received an email this morning [October 25] from Qantas asking me for my opinions about its Chairman’s Lounge, which I barely knew existed let alone had ever visited. This evening, I received another email advising me that I had been sent the earlier email in error. Apparently it was intended for those with a more elite level of Frequent Flyer membership. It wasn’t accompanied by an invitation to the Chairman’s Lounge, sadly, but it did assure me that my “personal data has not been shared, and … current Qantas Frequent Flyer status remains unchanged”.
