"Irish privacy regulator probes Ryanair's use of facial recognition", 4 October 2024

Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) opened an EU-wide probe... into whether Ryanair's use of facial recognition technology to verify the identity of customers booking through some third party websites violates the bloc's privacy laws.

The regulator said it had received a number of complaints from Ryanair (RYA.I), opens new tab customers across the European Union over the airline's practice of requesting additional verification when they booked travel tickets from third party sites or online travel agents (OTAs), as opposed to directly with Ryanair.

The Irish carrier, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, welcomed the inquiry into a process it said was designed to protect customers from OTAs not affiliated with the airline that might provide incorrect customer contact and payment details.

Ryanair says on its website that the additional verification is required for these customers in order to comply with safety and security requirements.

Passengers can avoid verifying through facial recognition by showing up at the airport at least two hours before departure or submitting a form and picture of their passport or national ID card in advance, a process Ryanair said can take seven days to complete.