PAXboy
26th Oct 2012, 03:10
This is the BBC but it is about the USA.
BBC News - Boarding pass barcodes 'can be read by smartphones' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20080621)
It's not just e-boarding passes, it's all boarding cards with a bar code. ie all boarding cards.
Oh, horrors of horrors. That bar code can be decoded by black hats ... According to the article "It's all there PNR [passenger name record], seat assignment, flight number, name, etc."
You know, exactly the same information that is actually printed in English on a paper boarding card.
The real issue appears to be the TSA didn't have their brains in gear when the decided to implement their new system. How difficult would it be to have a three digit random number in these fields, that would produce the desired results.
Methinks the BBC should focus on fixing their own problems rather than making up spurious ones elsewhere.