Airlines, hotels and cruise ships are increasingly personalizing your vacation by collecting personal data and tech experts like Dave Hatter are tempted but leery.
This summer Delta is testing facial recognition technology in Minneapolis with special kiosks to speed up the time it takes to check your bags. The airline will scan passports while specially equipped kiosks will scan your face. Delta says it's collecting customer feedback to help determine if this technology will expand to other airports.
KLM is testing facial recognition for boarding in Amsterdam. Jetblue is using it on flights from Boston to Aruba and istesting it to replace boarding passes.
Hatter says, "I mean who doesn't hate going to the airport standing in line, especially when you're watching the hands tick down on your watch...so I can see the upside. The downside in my mind is you're going to give them some very intimate biometric information about yourself in order to make this work and how serious is that going to be?"
Hotels are catering to convenience by offering apps to unlock the door and arrange the room to your liking.Both Hilton and Starwood Hotels are doing it. Other upscale hotels are investing in mirror televisions, smart thermostats, smart lighting and robots, according to Hospitality.net
Cruise ships are getting in on the actby offering medallions so the crew can know your name, what you want to eat and when you would like to disembark.
Again Hatter asks is the convenience worth handing over of personal information? He says he's not doing it because there is no guarantee the information will stay with the company and be used for what it was originally intended.
