The government is aware of concerns over data theft for existing passports, and the soon-to-be issued e-passports and has taken adequate precautions to ensure privacy and safety, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told Parliament on Friday, amidst a lively exchange over both electronic chip safety for passports as well as whether their launch would “ignore” certain States or be rolled out uniformly across the country.
“The current Passport Seva Project includes robust safeguards for data privacy, as well as adequate measures for data security. Passport data is used for the specific purpose for which it is obtained. The introduction of the e-passports does not envisage any deviation from this practice,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in written answers in the Lok Sabha to questions posed by M.K. Raghavan of the Congress and Ravindra Khushwaha from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
To a specific question from Congress member Shashi Tharoor on the dangers of “data-skimming” that has also been cited in a report of the American Civil Liberties Union that warned of data being misused by terrorists, identity thieves and marketeers, Mr. Jaishankar said the government is “very, very cognizant” of the concern. “Until we are sure that the skimming danger is adequately addressed, naturally we will not be going forward. But we have every confidence that will be the case,” he added.
During her budget speech this week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced plans to roll out the e-passport, which will have an embedded Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip and antenna, and will conform with international biometric passports that allow for swifter immigration procedures.
Procurement of chips
Mr. Jaishankar said letters of intent for the procurement of 4.5 crore electronic chips compliant to the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had been issued by India Security Press in Nashik which prints the passport, while technical responsibilities would be with the National Informatics Centre (NIC). He said once the procurement contracts were finalised, the process would take about six months.
“Sample e-passports are currently being tested and the full-scale manufacture and issue will commence with the completion of the technical ecosystem and infrastructure,” the MEA reply added.
Takes exception to Maran’s jibe
During his reply, Mr. Jaishankar took exception to a jibe by DMK member Dayanidhi Maran who asked whether the government would issue e-passports only for “Gujarat or Delhi”, and would southern States like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka “be ignored”.
“On the [issue of] passports we have never discriminated in favour of any State or against any State. I resent that”, the Minister said, also replying to a separate question from Mr. Maran on lengthy immigration procedures at the airports that the situation had visibly improved, although there was “room for improvement”.
