As the shutdown ended and air travel began returning to normal, rising airline ticket prices emerged as a new concern ahead of the Thanksgiving rush . But cost isn’t the only issue travelers are facing. For years, sensitive financial and personal data belonging to millions of American flyers has been vulnerable, raising fresh questions about how securely the aviation industry handles passenger information.

According to a letter from the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), a little-known data broker jointly owned by major U.S. and international airlines, a federal program had allowed authorities to monitor individuals’ movements without a warrant, a disclosure that raises serious questions about privacy protections and potential civil-liberties violations.

While Delta and other airlin

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