Use your face to zip through airports

Use your face to zip through airports

News:

1. The government is set to introduce the “Digi Yatra” facility to ease passenger travel by one-time verification at an airport.

Important News:

2. The “Digi Yatra” facility, which is voluntary, would require passengers to initially register themselves at a web portal by providing an identity proof.

3.The individual’s facial identity would then  be captured and mapped onto a newly created “Digi Yatra” profile and a distinct identification number would be generated after one-time verification at an airport.

4. Passengers would then have to provide this identification number at the time of purchasing an air ticket, to avail the paperless access facility.
5. The “Digi Yatra” programme would comply with the European Union’s Data Protection Regulation.
6. Significance of the initiative:

• The biometric-enabled digital processing of passengers, would enable travellers to enter the airport building by scanning a QR code on their mobile phones, after undergoing facial recognition.
• Once inside the airport, a passenger would be able to self check-in, drop baggage, pass through e-gates to access security and embarkation areas with just a facial scan, thus obviating the need to produce a boarding pass at every step.
• However, travellers would still have to undergo mandatory security checks including frisking.