Air travel is becoming increasingly digital, but not everyone thinks this is a good development.
How does Wi-Fi work on the plane?
Delta Air Lines has begun offering “free and fast” Wi-Fi on most domestic flights. While some travelers have welcomed the move, others say they’ll miss the digital detox that air travel provides, and security experts say there are risks to connecting in the air.
“Using public Wi-Fi on a flight can pose privacy risks for passengers because the hotspot provider can track what everyone is doing online,” Ray Walsh, a digital privacy expert at the website ProPrivacy, told Lifewire in an email interview. “This tracking can be abused for profiling purposes, to generate a revenue stream by selling user data to third parties, or for targeted marketing.”
Delta will offer the new Wi-Fi service on more than 700 Viasat-equipped aircraft by the end of 2023. The airline also announced plans to offer free Wi-Fi on international and regional aircraft by the end of 2024.
