Amid privacy concerns about flyer’s data, the Civil Aviation Ministry in an official statement has clarified that the DigiYatra system does not store the data of air passengers in a central database. Instead, their information is stored on their devices.
The DigiYatra system is a biometric boarding solution that uses facial recognition to provide a more convenient and comfortable experience for passengers.
According to a press release, the data collected by the system is stored in the users’ device and not in a central repository. This eliminates the existence of a central storage facility for Personally Identifiable Information (PII) . All of the passengers’ information is stored in their smartphone’s wallet. The only way it can be accessed is through the validation of their DigiYatra ID at the airport.
The data collected by the system is deleted from the airport’s system within 24 hours following the flight’s departure. “The data cannot be used by any other entity since it is encrypted. The data is shared only with the airport of origin, where it needs to be validated to confirm a passenger’s Digi Yatra ID,”it said.
The Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia in a tweet had earlier assured that the data is stored only on passenger smartphones and no central repository is involved in collecting user data.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation’s initiative, Digiyatra, seeks to provide a “convenient and comfortable boarding experience” by implementing facial recognition technology. It eliminates the need for manual verification of tickets and IDs at various touchpoints.
The system was initially rolled out at three airports — Bengaluru, Delhi, and Varanasi.