NEW DELHI: Remember Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible series, as he just shows his face to get access into his high-security hi-tech office. You might soon have the same feeling here in India as you make your way into the high-security airport departure zones to board your next domestic flight.
The government on Thursday launched the DigiYatra app at the airports in the national capital, Bangalore and Varanasi which will allow domestic fliers access to the airport's departure zones by just looking into a lens.
The DigiYatra application is designed to achieve contactless, seamless processing of passengers at airports based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT).
The project basically envisages that travellers may pass through various checkpoints at the airports through a paperless and contactless process using facial features to establish their identity which could be linked to the boarding pass. To use this facility time registration on the Digi Yatra app is required using Aadhar-based validation and a self-image capture.
The DigiYatra will also be launched at four more airports -- Hyderabad, Pune, Vijayawada and Kolkata -- by March next year and will be rapidly rolled out across all other airports at a later time.
Launching the service at the Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport, on Thursday, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said “DigiYatra data is stored in a decentralised manner.”
Talking about the data security aspects of the service Scindia said, “The data will be saved in an encrypted format and blockchain technology is being used. The data is stored in passengers' phones and the data shared with the airport is purged 24 hours after the journey,” he added.
There is no central storage of Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
The passenger’s ID and travel credentials are stored in a secure wallet on the passenger’s smartphone itself. The service is presently being launched for domestic flight passengers.
In the first phase, it will be launched at 7 airports. However, it is initially being launched at 3 airports i.e., Delhi, Bengaluru and Varanasi on 1st December 2022 followed by 4 airports namely Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Vijayawada by March 2023. Later it would be implemented across various airports in the country.
"With Digi Yatra, India is setting a new global benchmark for a seamless, hassle-free and health risk-free process at airports," Scindia said.