A Singapore Airlines passenger took to twitter to share that he had discovered his inflight entertainment system appeared to have a camera installed in it. There has been a ton of media pickup of this.

Just found this interesting sensor looking at me from the seat back on board of Singapore Airlines. Any expert opinion of whether this a camera? Perhaps @SingaporeAir could clarify how it is used? pic.twitter.com/vy0usqruZG

— Vitaly Kamluk (@vkamluk) February 17, 2019

Singapore Airlines was quick to note that the camera comes with their system but they aren’t using it, and have no plans to do so.

Hi there, thank you for reaching out to us. We would like to share that some of our newer inflight entertainment systems provided by the original equipment manufacturers do have a camera embedded in the hardware. (1/2)

— Singapore Airlines (@SingaporeAir) February 17, 2019

These cameras have been disabled on our aircraft, and there are no plans to develop any features using the cameras. Thank you. (2/2)

— Singapore Airlines (@SingaporeAir) February 17, 2019

I’m not aware of any inflight entertainment systems currently in service that are actually ‘spying’ on passengers, though some airlines do have cameras in their cabins. Emirates does for instance so that flight attendants can be unobtrusive yet still provide excellent service, they’ll know when someone is up or looks like they need or want something. If memory serves Korean Air has this in first class as well.

Cameras in cabins was much discussed after 9/11 as a security measure, JetBlue actually went ahead with installation however at major airlines flight attendants pushed back vigorously because they didn’t want to be monitored. What if instead of just monitoring gate agent scores for all the elements of ‘D0’ departure, they actually monitored whether flight attendants offered predeparture beverages or just read People magazine in the galley?

Passengers as a group aren’t likely to be able to push back nearly as successfully as employee unions in the heavily regulated airline industry. Like biometric boarding it will be described as ‘for our benefit’ even when there’s no discernible benefit, but there are certainly uses to facial recognition cameras that airlines could employ in the future in their inflight systems.

It’s almost enough to make you grateful that American Airlines is removing seatback screens from its domestic fleet.

In the meantime you may want to carry tape with you to cover that camera because even though it isn’t in use today that doesn’t mean you’ll always be told before it’s turned on as a matter of company policy or by a rogue employee.

Of course your every move through the airport is captured on video, and not just at security screening either. Generally airlines have access to review these video feeds – they aren’t just limited to law enforcement. It’s even used for defensive PR, for instance they’ll search video footage when a news story about a passenger complaint goes viral. That’s how American Airlines was able to defend themselves against the false charge that they left an elderly wheelchair-bound Parkinsons patient alone overnight at Chicago O’Hare.

That may seem fair to you, but we’re all being watched when we travel, even on the roads of major cities via traffic cam. Officials can tell when you pull into a doctor’s office parking lot, or a seedy by the hour motel. The least of our worries is Singapore Airlines checking up on you inflight where they’re likely to offer you your favorite drink and use the footage for anything nefarious.