In-flight internet service Gogo has defended its use of a fake Google SSL certificates as a means of throttling video streaming, adding that it was not invading its customer’s privacy in doing so.
The rebuttal comes after Google security researcher Adrienne Porter Felt posted a screenshot of the phoney certificate to Twitter, prompting speculation the firm could eavesdrop on customers in what is known as a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack.
Anand Chari, CTO at Gogo, said: "Gogo takes our customer’s privacy very seriously and we are committed to bringing the best internet experience to the sky."
"Right now, Gogo is working on many ways to bring more bandwidth to an aircraft. Until then, we have stated that we don’t support various streaming video sites and utilise several techniques to limit/block video streaming."
He added that no customer information was being collected as a result of these techniques, which he defended as necessary to ensure "a good experience" for flight passengers.
Gogo has previously faced criticism from civil liberties groups over its co-operation with US police after they requested snooping capabilities above what was required by law.
A letter sent by the company to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a US regulator, showed Gogo had exceeded legal requirements and enhanced US police and spooks ability to monitor users’ traffic.
