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.
As year-end travel peaked at some of the busiest airports in the country last month, air travellers took to social media to express their shock and anger at the flagrant infringement of their privacy at airports, largely through the Digi Yatra initiative being aggressively promoted by the Union government. 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.
On Christmas Eve, Tavish Pattanayak, an aerospace engineering scholar in the U.S. was scheduled to fly with IndiGo out of Delhi. He skipped the queue dedicated for Digi Yatra users, who have downloaded and registered on the app, allowing them to enter the passenger building through electronic gates equipped with cameras that scan their boarding passes and faces. However, Mr. Pattanayak soon realised that passengers in his line were also being requested to look into a camera, following which the CISF personnel would click a button on the screen to give consent on their behalf for a one-time sign up for Digi Yatra.
