IB Questionbank

User interface language: English | Español

Date	November 2021	Marks available	8	Reference code	21N.1.SL.TZ0.2
Level	SL	Paper	1	Time zone	no time zone
Command term	Discuss	Question number	2	Adapted from	N/A

Question

Airport luggage control

Large airports need to handle thousands of pieces of luggage (including suitcases and other types of baggage) from the moment passengers check them in at the counter until the moment they arrive at their final destination. Sometimes a passenger will change airplanes during their journey, so their bags will need to be transferred by conveyor belt from one plane to another.

When the passenger checks in at the airline counter, a tag is printed and attached to each piece of luggage (see Figure 2). This tag has information about the passenger and their journey printed on it and also shows both a barcode and a ten-digit number that are unique to each piece of luggage.

Figure 2: A luggage tag

[Image by AlexStef at English Wikipedia. Dca-baggage-tag.jpg (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dca-baggage-tag.jpg). Under copyright and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en]

The luggage then goes on to a number of conveyor belts that take each bag to where it needs to go. Conveyor belts connect to other conveyor belts that direct luggage from the airport building to the correct airplane, from one airplane to the next if the passenger changes airplanes during the journey, or to the baggage reclaim area at the end of the journey. The airport luggage control system will know when to push the bag from one conveyor belt to another to ensure it gets to the correct destination.

The barcode allows the airport’s luggage control system to access a database containing information about each piece of luggage.

Identify two pieces of information about the luggage that may be obtained from this database.

[2]

a.i.

Identify the steps taken by the luggage control system to decide which conveyor belt to choose when a bag reaches a junction between two conveyor belts.

[4]

a.ii.

Analyse the decision by some airports to attach radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to luggage when it is checked in by the passenger, instead of barcode paper printed tags.

[6]

Airlines have databases that contain data about passengers when tickets are booked. This data includes travel dates, itineraries, contact details, passport details and passengers’ home addresses. When passengers purchase a ticket online from an airline company, they have to accept the airline’s terms and conditions by clicking “Agree” (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Acceptance of airline terms and conditions

Within these terms and conditions, it states that the airline may receive a request to share this data with the government of the country to which the passenger is flying.

Discuss whether airlines should share passengers’ data with the governments of the countries to which they are flying.

[8]

Markscheme

Answers may include:

Destination
Passenger name/surname
Weight of the bag
Route of the complete journey (e.g., point of departure / transfers)
Flight information (flight number, airline)

NB: Do not accept simply “journey” – sufficient detail must be given.

Award [1] for identifying each piece of information about the luggage that may be obtained from this database up to [2].

a.i.

Answers may include:

Barcode reader reads barcode of bag arriving junction.
System looks for code/finds code in the database.
System retrieves the flight number (accept destination of the flight) that the bag needs to be delivered to from the record associated with that code.
System also retrieves data identifying which conveyor has been assigned to deliver bags for that flight number.
If the new conveyor has been assigned to the same flight number as the bag, the bag is pushed onto the new conveyor.
If not, the bag continues on the original conveyor.

NB: Responses must make reference to the IT system(s) involved.

Award [1] for identifying each of the steps taken by the system to decide if a bag is pushed to a different conveyor or not when arriving at a junction up to [4].

a.ii.

Answers may include:

Advantages of barcodes on printed tags:

Tags have information that is visible and readable by people.
Workers may re-route luggage if needed as information is readable.
Printing may be cheaper than RFID tags.

Disadvantages of barcodes on printed tags:

Barcodes need to be in the line of sight with the barcode-reading device.
Paper tags may get dirty or broken.
Papers with barcodes may not deliver the information if they are damaged (and paper tags are easily damaged).
Barcode tags are more labour intensive – need to be printed and physically attached by airport staff.

Advantages of RFID tags:

Can be read by RFID reader from a greater distance/no need to have tag in line with reader.
RFID tags can have more information than a set of numbers in a barcode.
Can be reused (if returned – or by frequent flyers).
Are read at a faster rate than barcodes.
May not get damaged with handling as easy as paper tags.
RFID are read/write devices – information may be added along the way.
RFID tags more secure – can be encrypted.
More than one tag can respond at the same time – (so bags hidden under other bags would still be detected, etc.).

Disadvantages of RFID tags:

More expensive.
If system fails, then there may not be information on tag readable by a person/ possible delays in baggage processing.
Possible that they are read by unauthorized users.
Used tags are more difficult to destroy/deactivate than paper barcodes/ discarded tags pose a potential privacy issue for the traveller.

Answers may include:

Airlines or passengers may see sharing this information as unethical or a breach of privacy, which may raise wider issues and affect their business or business model.
Airlines may feel that if passengers are aware that the airline shares their data, they may decide not to use the airline and opt for one that does not have data sharing agreements.
Sharing passenger data might help protect countries from terrorist attacks or other criminal activities (e.g., passengers may be on a “watch list” in the destination country).
Sharing passenger data may allow governments to respond more effectively if the passenger needs to be traced/contacted urgently during their stay in the country.
Governments can use data analytics to track and analyse tourism data for planning workforce, infrastructure etc.
Will the additional time and effort the airline spends on highlighting this data sharing agreement be cost-effective? In other words, do passengers need to know or are passengers likely to care (values)?
Airlines may feel that passengers may not be concerned about their data being shared, or they may just accept that this will happen as it is “out there”, regardless of whether they agree with it or not (values).
If airlines group together, they could form associations that can set policies about what data should be shared/should not be shared with governments, which may make passengers feel more confident about the confidentiality of their data.
Governments may require that airlines make this data sharing available and part of the ticket purchasing process, so the decision may be effectively made for the airline (power, values).

In part (c) of this question it is expected there will be a balance between the terminology related to digital systems and the terminology related to social and ethical impacts.

Keywords: business, regulation, policies, privacy, anonymity, security, data, analytics, change, power, systems, values, ethics

Refer to SL/HL paper 1, part c markbands when awarding marks. These can be found under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials > Digital society markbands and guidance document.