One of the leading WiFi providers for the US airline industry has been allowing the NSA to access to our in-flight data - even going as far as adapting their technology to allow security services new powers to spy on passengers.


A letter leaked to Wired, admitted to violating the requirements of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).

According to RT, the act is part of a wiretapping law passed in 1994 that requires telecoms carriers to provide law enforcement with a backdoor in their systems to monitor telephone and broadband communications.

Gogo, which provides WiFi services to the biggest US airlines, are not the only ones to adapt their services to enable spying. Panasonic Avionics also added “additional functionality” to their services as per an agreement with US law enforcement, according to a report published in December.

The deals with security services have civil liberties organizations up in arms. They have condemned the WiFi providers’ deals with authorities as scandalous.

“Having ISPs [now] that say that CALEA isn’t enough, we’re going to be even more intrusive in what we collect on people is, honestly, scandalous,” Peter Eckersley, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Wired.