Many air travelers leave their boarding passes behind on the plane after each flight, they see their boarding passes as just ordinary pieces of papers, which are no longer useful after the end of each flight. Some passengers even go as far as posting their boarding passes on social media.
For those with check-in luggage, they endeavour to hold the ‘pieces of papers’ till after they retrieve their luggage and pass through the baggage reclaim areas.
Though, used boarding passes cannot be reused by anyone else as it is only meant for an individual passengers by airlines, but they are way beyond just the ordinary pieces of papers you carry about and throw out carelessly. In fact, they are a security document, which are unknown to most travelling passengers, but are critical to their safety and security. Your boarding pass contains personal information such as your name, flight number, and seat number. Though, they may not be reused, but if these information fall into the wrong hands, they could be used for identity theft or other malicious purposes.
Commenting on the importance of boarding passes, Grp. John Ojikutu (retd), the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Centurion Security Services Limited, said boarding passes are security documents, which should not be handled carelessly by passengers. Ojikutu, however, said that boarding passes can never be used again on any flight by anyone else as they are produced electronically for specific flights.
According to him, every information on boarding passes are specific for an individual on a particular flight with date and time. He said: “What can only happen still today as in the days passed are stolen identities where the identity card of an individual can be used to purchase a ticket. “What I have observed at most domestic airlines check-in counters and their boarding gates is that only the names are checked, not the face or any other profiling. This always reminds me of how Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the underwear bomber bought tickets and boarded the KLM flight on December 25, 2009.”
Besides, Mr. Daniel Isabor, another security expert, reiterated that personal information are on boarding passes. He, however, said that some airlines, especially on the international routes keep more information than the others, but maintained that even the most basic information could be used to gather more details about a passenger by a hacker. He explained that what anyone needed to unlock any hidden information is just a barcode scanner, stressing that this could be easily found on various websites and in app stores, often for free of charge.
According to Isabor, most barcodes can decode and categorise data with ease. He added: “In some cases, some of the barcodes can also reveal one key piece of information – the passenger’s full airline account number. Sometimes, additional details belonging to the account, such as email address, phone number and more, will also be available. “With access to the full frequent flier account number, a scammer can then get secret question information like mothers’ maiden names or high school mascots from social media to log into the account. From there, the criminal can wreak havoc by changing or canceling future reservations, stealing frequent flier points and more.
“People should treat their boarding passes the same way they treat their passports. You can never leave your passport behind.” The security expert further told our correspondent that most airlines keep the data about passengers on their boarding passes because of security and usability. For example, he posited that when something bad happens and an airline official wants really quick help from a representative, they could scan the boarding pass for the passenger’s email, travel information and any other necessary data.
He stressed further that with data so easily accessible these days globally, a passenger may not be aware of their personal information stored by organisations, stressing that “you have to be skeptical and always err on the side of caution when it comes to your personal information.” Definitely, there is no getting around using a boarding pass, but a mobile boarding pass can be used to reduce the risk associated with a paper boarding pass. Also, a paper boarding pass can be shredded by a traveler after use.
Quote: “People should treat their boarding passes the same way they treat their passports. You can never leave your passport behind.”