4 Reasons Why Inflight WiFi Needs FunCaptcha

Arkose Labs
Arkose Labs
Published in
3 min readOct 21, 2015

On a recent flight, we got to experience the joy of stable inflight WiFi. It was terrific — we could keep up to date with our team via Slack, respond to important emails and watch all the random YouTube videos we wanted. The future is now! The only downside? The CAPTCHAs the airlines were relying on.

FamiliarAirlines_CAPTCHA

Accessing the WiFi is a pretty simple process: passengers choose their WiFi package, sign in or sign up and then are asked to complete a CAPTCHA to prove they’re a human. The CAPTCHA itself is like any other text CAPTCHA: not appealing or even effective. We’ve explained before how text CAPTCHAs are outdated, annoying and simply don’t work.

Why does inflight WiFi need a CAPTCHA?

Firstly, to block malicious, automated systems from accessing a plane’s WiFi. This is a legal requirement under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA. The law requires telecommunications providers to allow authorities access to important information under certain circumstances — mainly threats to national security. In the case of inflight WiFi, it’s important to protecting the integrity of a plane’s limited network. If automated systems can abuse the network, a number of possibilities open up, ruining the experience for genuine users.

The second reason is to prevent passenger devices from automatically connecting and chewing through their pre-purchased data. Everyone at one point or another has had a device automatically update itself or downloads immense amounts of data — all by accident. A CAPTCHA would prevent devices from automatically connecting and burning through their owner’s precious WiFi data.

Why FunCaptcha?

Relying on an ugly and ineffective text CAPTCHA for both of the reasons above is not a wise move — here’s how FunCaptcha is the superior alternative.

Privacy Protection

In a recent article, Wired magazine raised a valid point: what information could be recorded/transferred by an inflight wifi service? That’s something FunCaptcha doesn’t do. We don’t care who you are — just that you’re not a robot. We don’t store personal identifying information nor do we send that information on to any 3rd party. You complete a mini-game and we verify you, that’s it.

Easy Access

FunCaptcha is what airlines need to ensure their WiFi offerings are secure yet streamlined. Our completion rates are higher than traditional CAPTCHAs and in order to provide the best user experience, airlines need a CAPTCHA that’s easy for humans but impossible for bots.

Visual Appeal

FunCaptcha has the ability for full aesthetic customization. From full brand packages to just a subtle change in colours, an airline can replace distorted text or images with a CAPTCHA that is visually engaging, not confronting.

Full Support

We’re the only company on the planet dedicated to providing a better CAPTCHA experience. Airlines can rest easy knowing their customers are seeing a CAPTCHA that has a team of experts continuously improving it.

FunCaptcha is what airlines need to ensure their WiFi offerings are both protected and streamlined.

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Arkose Labs
Arkose Labs

We solve multimillion-dollar fraud problems for the world’s most targeted businesses with zero friction to users.