• otp@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      I imagine Snapchat read it.

      Then checked his location (since Snapchat likely asks users to turn on that permission, or it could’ve been found through photo/video metadata).

      Then they informed the airport nearest to his GPS location.

      And that’s probably why it got blown out of proportion.

      Snapchat says “Hey airport, we found someone at your location who said they’re going to blow up a plane. Here’s a cropped picture of the guy’s face.”

      Then the airport staff are looking through everyone who’s checked in, trying to match the Snapchat picture to the passport photos. By the time they found a match, the plan had already departed. (Let’s be real, they probably have some facial recognition, but it was likely double-checked by humans, plus all the communication back and forth, etc.)

      So now the airport knows that the guy who said he’s going to blow up the plane is already on the plane, and the plane is in flight. What are your options at that point?

      • Caaaaarrrrlll@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        Probably doesn’t need facial recognition even. Snapchat has people’s phone numbers. Which are also used when booking tickets for most airlines. The airport could cross check phone record from Snapchat with their airlines’ passenger info.