Protecting Your Data While Traveling

The holiday travel season brings its own share of stress: packed airports, expensive flights, and sudden changes to your plans. But there’s an aspect of travel most people aren’t even aware of. Each time you book a flight or hotel room, your personal data is being collected, compiled, and sold—often without your knowledge.

Whether you’re heading out for holiday festivities or planning a trip for the new year, the companies holding onto your sensitive information—like your full name, home address, travel dates, and device data—are sharing and selling this data more than you’d expect.

And during the holidays, this data turns into a gold mine for scammers. So, let’s dive into how this all works, which companies are the most involved in collecting your data, and some steps you can take to protect your information before traveling.

Why Your Vacation Travel Puts Data at Risk

The holidays are a peak time for collecting travel-related data. Airlines, hotels, booking platforms, loyalty programs, and travel apps all see massive traffic spikes. Many Americans are checking prices, rebooking flights, and comparing deals, creating a wealth of data points that can be tracked. This includes:

• Email address
• Phone number
• Full name and date of birth
• Address history
• Travel itinerary
• Passport or ID information
• Device fingerprint
• IP address and location
• Shopping habits.

It’s easy to assume this data simply stays with your airline or hotel, but that’s not the case. Most companies share your information with advertisers, analytics firms, and data brokers, creating detailed profiles based on your travel frequency, spending habits, and whether you fit into a “high-value” category.

This information can easily end up in a scammer’s hands, leading to a variety of sophisticated attacks targeting travelers, such as:

• Fake “Your flight has been canceled” messages
• Phishing emails masquerading as hotel confirmations
• Fraudulent baggage fee requests
• Deceptive TSA PreCheck renewal notifications
• Urgent revalidation messages.

Scammers are adept at taking advantage of your stress and urgency during travel, making their deception all the more convincing.

How to Protect Your Data Before Traveling

Here are some essential steps to maintain your privacy this holiday season:

1) Check What Data Travel Agencies Have

Most hotels, airlines, and booking sites allow you to manage your data, but these options can be buried deep within privacy settings.

2) Adjust App Location Permissions

Many travel apps, like Airbnb and Hopper, track your location even when you’re not using them. Here’s how to turn off location permissions:

• For iPhone: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, select each app, and choose “While Using the App” or “Never.”
• For Android: Head to Settings > Location, and adjust the permissions for each app accordingly.

3) Remove Personal Data from Data Broker Sites

This is crucial. Data brokers circulate existing information even if companies stop collecting new data. Much of this data includes travel patterns, address history, and contact information. While you can request removal from various sites manually, using a dedicated data deletion service can be a worthwhile investment. These services actively monitor your information and facilitate its removal, giving you added peace of mind.

4) Use an Email Alias for Reservations

Creating an email alias can help you minimize spam and phishing attacks by channeling communications to your primary address without revealing it directly.

5) Avoid Using Airport Wi-Fi for Financial Transactions

Public Wi-Fi networks can be a hotbed for scammers setting up fake hotspots. It’s best to refrain from accessing anything involving financial transactions while connected to airport Wi-Fi.

Key Takeaways

The holiday season is upon us, and as travel increases, so does the collection and sharing of personal data by airlines, hotels, and apps. Before you head out, it would be wise to take a few minutes to safeguard your personal information from online brokers. It’s essential for a more secure and confident travel experience.