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Mahesh

06/01/24 06:36 AM IST

Digi Yatra

In News
  • Next time you visit an Indian airport, beware of security personnel and private staff at the entry gate of passenger buildings who may be collecting your facial biometrics without your knowledge or consent.
Concerns
  • The app, which allows for digital processing of passengers, promoting paperless and seamless movement through airports, was rolled out as an entirely voluntary programme from December 2022.
  • The Digi Yatra Foundation is a not-for-profit company whose shareholders comprise the Airports Authority of India and the five private airports at Delhi, Bengaluru, Cochin, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.
  • While the Digi Yatra policy was unveiled by the government in 2018, it was implemented only after the COVID-19 pandemic had eased.
  • In December 2022, it was rolled out at three airports, including Delhi.
  • Since then, it has been implemented at 11 airports, and will be expanded to 14 more in the months to come.
  • The funding for Digi Yatra comes from the airports, and not the government.
Digi yatra
  • The initiative allows passengers to zip through various check points, from entry gate to security frisking area to boarding gate.
  • Passengers have to scan their boarding passes and faces at the first entry point, following which a single biometric face token is created which should allow them to complete the rest of the journey with just a face scan at the remaining check-points.
  • The aim is to improve operational efficiency by allowing faster processing of passengers and letting airlines track delayed passengers, and to enhance security by ensuring that there is no intentional exchange of boarding passes among passengers or boarding of the wrong aircraft.
Objectives
  • Enhance passenger experience and provide a simple and easy experience to all air travellers.
  • Achieve better throughput through existing infrastructure using “Digital Framework”.
  • Result in lower cost operations.
  • Digitize current manual processes and to bring better efficiencies
  • Enhance security standards and improve current system performance.
  • Rollout of “Digi Yatra” system with a digital “ID” backed by a strong verifiable government issued identity like AADHAAR.
Digi Yatra foundation
  • The Digi Yatra Foundation maintains that biometric data or any other personally identifiable information is not stored in any database permanently, but in a secure wallet inside the app on the user’s mobile device.
  • It maintains that while the Biometric Boarding System of the local airport has access to this data on the day of travel, it is automatically purged within 24 hours.
  • However, concerns remain, as the policy provides exemptions for airports to share data with government agencies, and India is yet to notify its Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023, which was passed in Parliament in August last year.
Source- The Hindu

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