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Check-in using face recognition technology at Bengaluru airport from August
Air travellers can check-in using facial recognition technology - which is completely contactless - starting August 15, as part of the ministry of civil aviation's Digi Yatra project.
The ministry of civil aviation will begin using facial recognition technology at Varanasi and Bengaluru airports starting August 15 as part of its Digi Yatra project, the consultative committee meeting of the ministry decided Monday.
The rest of the project, once implemented, will allow passengers to go through all airport check-ins and processes digitally and contact-free.
The technology being used at airports will recognise facial features to establish the passenger's identity which will be linked to their boarding pass.
Union minister of civil aviation Jyotiraditya M Scindia's office tweeted, “In a bid to digitise air travel in India… held a senior-level meeting of the consultative committee… to discuss Digi Yatra and its implementation. 1st phase of Digi Yatra is all set to be launched August 2022 at Varanasi and Bengaluru airports.”
A statement issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) regarding the matter stated, “"In first phase, Digi Yatra is proposed to be rolled out at two airports, namely Varanasi and Bengaluru, in August 2022, and at five airports, namely Pune, Vijayawada, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad, by March next year.”
"The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will identify their airports where Digi Yatra would be implemented in phased manner," the statement added.
According to news agency PTI, Scindia said privacy issues have been addressed.
The civil aviation ministry said the project will use a ‘decentralised mobile wallet-based identity management platform’ that is cost effective and addresses privacy and data protection issues.
The Digi Yatra Foundation (DYF) is a joint venture company looking to define the criteria for compliance and guidelines for the local airport systems from time to time and also conduct regular audits of guidelines on security, image quality and data privacy etc. defined by the Digi Yatra guidelines for the local Airport Biometric Boarding Systems (BBS), the statement said.
(With PTI Inputs)
