NEW DELHI – A recent post on Reddit has generated a heated online debate regarding passenger privacy and safety after a woman claimed a train ticket checker (TC) used her reservation details to find her on Instagram and send her a follow request. The person who commented under the heading “TC checked my ticket and then my Instagram lol” noted that the event made her feel uneasy and made her wonder if this was a common thing.
The woman said that a TC checked her ticket on a recent train ride. She thought that he must have used her name from the passenger reservation chart to find her social media page. “Honestly, it felt a little creepy because that’s the private info passengers give for travel,” she wrote in her article, which instantly got a lot of attention.
People in the online community are worried.
The article got a lot of attention from people online, with hundreds of others voicing their worries and condemning the ticket checker’s actions. Many people pointed out how bad this may be for people’s safety and privacy.
One person told the woman not to accept the invitation because it was “straight up creepy behavior” and could lead to her getting “flooded by DMs.” Another commentator said the deed was “abnormal and not acceptable,” which is what many others said as well.
TC checked my ticket and then my Instagram LOL 👀
byu/Active-Parking2365 inindianrailways
The conversation also showed that this type of thing may happen to people of any gender. “Happened with me too, I am a boy,” said one male user, showing that both men and women find the conduct disturbing. Other users said they couldn’t believe what happened and told the woman to report it, calling the behavior “creepy and unacceptable.”
The event has brought to light a gray area in passenger privacy, where staff who have access to personal information may utilize it to contact people they shouldn’t, which is often seen as a breach of professional conduct and trust.