Aer Lingus Email:Gathering data for US Department of Homeland Security

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gentle123

Registered User
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hi,

Im travelling to USA in October, i just received the following email today from Aer Lingus

Dear Sir or Madam:



Your booking reference includes travel to the USA.



The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Bureau of Customs and Border

Protection) requires certain Advance Information about all passengers -

including infants - travelling to the USA.

Airlines must have this information before passengers can be Checked In

for flights to the USA.



We are currently gathering the data in advance of check in to provide a more efficient service for you, our passenger and to reduce Queuing time at check in.



The Information required from each passenger - including infants - is:



- First Name (as on passport)

- Family Name (as on passport)

- Gender

- Date of Birth (ddmmmyy format)

- Nationality

- Passport Number and Alien Resident Card (Green Card) if applicable

- Country of Issue of Passport and Alien Resident Card (Green Card) if applicable

- Expiry Date of Passport and Alien Resident Card (Green Card) if applicable (ddmmmyy format)

- Address while in USA (including ZIP Code)



In order to assist you in providing us with the details we have set up the following email address, customer.contact@aerlingus.com to which you can reply.

Thank you for your time





Kind Regards,

Aer Lingus Customer Contact Centre

Has anyone else received an email like this and did you send off the information?

Thanks in advance
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

I'm travelling in November with aer lingus and haven't received anything like this. Seems a bit strange, you should give them a call.
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

This is a new US immigration requirment that comes into effect on Oct 4th. There is no scam involved.
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

But you fill all that stuff out on the plane anyway.
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

I would ring Aer Lingus to confirm this. It probably is legitimate, and especially so if they have included your dates and booking references, but it could be someones effort at phishing - getting people to part with confidential information by pretending to be someone else. Unlikely if they actually are using an aerlingus.com email address, but possible.

If this is the way Aer Lingus are collecting confidential information (like passport numbers and expiry dates) then their IT auditors and compliance people should be woken up and told about it. They are asking people to send this information in clear-text through the internet and they don't provide (from the email above) a privacy policy indicating what they will or will not do with the information provided. Yes, they will pass it on to the US authorities (and you can't do much about it if you want to go there these days), but who else will they pass this information on to ?

At the very least they should provide a secure website where you can enter this information without risk of it being intercepted.

The more I think about it, the sillier it seems - if people send in free-form emails with information all over the place, someone is going to have to re-enter the information into whatever system they are using to record all the details. Much better to graball the information from a web site and stick it in the application directly.

z
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

cahir - the US authorities want advance warning these days. They currently require airlines to provide passenger lists when planes have departed so they can scan them for terrorists traveling on legitimate passports. Remember Cat Stevens got sent back to London last year because someone saw him on a list - plane just landed and he had to get back on it and return. The US authorities are trying to pre-screen the lists now instead of waiting until the terrorist is in the air.

Just to clarify - I use the word 'terrorist' above loosely, meaning whoever it is *they* don't like, not meaning somene who has actually carried out a terrorist act.

z

Link to Cat Stevens article - http://abcnews.go.com/2020/News/story?id=139607&page=1
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

To follow up on Zags point it may be worthwhile pointing this out to the Data Protection Commissioner as this is personal information that is not properly secured.

C
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

Zag is absolutely right; the US authorities do require the info when the plane has departed. (This has been extensively reported here in UK)
The alternative to providing the info in the manner requested by Aer Lingus is to give the info to the check-in clerk at the airport. How long before departure time would you have to be at the airport for the data to input and how many errors do you think would be generated, with the pressure of 300 other passengers waiting to check in?
Clearly a pain in the butt, but if you want to fly to the States that is part of the price.
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

I booked flights to NY for early October on the net some weeks ago. First I booked my own flight with my visa card then booked same flight for travel companion immediately after, same flights and dates. She inputted her credit card details. Two flight and two booking refs. She has received this email and I haven't? I will be calling Aer Lingus in the morning to check if it is bona fide. Don't like sending this info in an email. Why were we not asked for this info at the time of booking so it could be sent securely with cc details?
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

I received the same email today also. I have forwarded it to Pat Kenny's radio show and we will see what comes of it!
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

Hi Guys, Thanks for all your replies. I rang Aer Lingus yesterday, and yes this seems genuine. There is a new immigration law that takes effect from Oct 4. Aer Lingus are looking for the information to speed up check in. One question i have is do the the people who have booked through the travel agencies have to provide the same information or is it just the people who have booked through the website?


Thanks again.
 
Re: Aer Lingus Email

It affects everyone. Those that don't give the info in advance will have to give it at check in, which will slow down the whole process. Its your choice which way you want to go.
 
I have raised the above email with the Data Protection Commissioner to see what their take is on Aer Lingus collecting personal information in unsecure emails.

Will let all know what feedback I get

C
 
Hi Guys,


I emailed Aer Lingus regarding the information required, this is their reply.

In order to speed up your check in time we need this information asap so you will not have to provide these details at the airport

Aer Lingus Customer Contact Centre
customer.contact@aerlingus.com
 
Hi Gentle,

Would you like to post a copy of the email you sent to Aer Lingus? Take out any personal information.

This way we can assess whether AL addressed all the specific questions you asked.

aj
 
It will be interesting to hear what the Data Protection Commissioner says.

There is enough information in the email for someone to build themselves a new passport using your details. If someone intercepted one of these mails (and had the relevant passport faking technology - a fair assumption if they are sufficiently nefarious) they could create a passport with a valid passport number (yours), name (yours), place of issue, date of birth (yours), expiry date and their own picture. As far as the immigration people would be concerned it would all ring true as the picture on the passport would match the face of the person in the queue and all the other details would be consistent.

This is like sending your credit card number, name and expiry date in a plain email - every single card provider strongly advises against this for a very good reason.

z
 
In terms of the response from Aer Lingus - it might well speed up check-in, but it also fundamentally compromises your identity.

z
 
Pat Kenny is covering this matter, this morning apparently. He mentioned a shocking item on photo ids that we wanted to tell us about.
 
Hi AJ,


On the email i sent to AL, I basically just said that i was confused about their original email, i asked them if they wanted me to send the req'd info asap. I also rang them to see if the email was genuine.

Thanks
 
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