Pafos Press 7 January 2025
From paper to NFC chips and perhaps facial recognition – The first attempts at a paperless passport era
In a few years, wherever you live or travel, your face will likely be your new passport. For many years people have used some form of passport when moving from place to place. But the widespread use of passports as we know them today didn't really begin until after World War I, when they were commonly used as a security measure and to prevent spies from entering a country. Even then, passports were considered by some to be "anachronistic in the modern world".
But the use of paper passports - which were first digitized with NFC chips in 2006 - is slowly undergoing one of the biggest transformations.
The travel industry, airports and governments are working to remove the need to show a passport. Eventually, you may not need to carry your passport at all.
The first attempts at an era without a paper passport
Facial recognition technology and smartphones are increasingly being used to check and confirm your identity before moving to a foreign country. These systems, proponents say, can reduce wait times. But privacy experts warn that there is little transparency about the technologies being developed and that their proliferation could lead to data breaches and greater levels of surveillance.
The effort to abolish paper passports is happening worldwide. So far, airports in Finland, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, India and others have tested passport-free confirmation methods. In October, officials in Singapore announced that its residents can fly to and from the country without using their documents, and foreign visitors can "enjoy the convenience of passport-free checks when departing Singapore."
While trials around the world are at different stages and with different infrastructures, they generally work in similar ways: Information historically stored on your passport's NFC chip, including facial data, is digitally stored and linked to your phone. The EU plans to create an official travel app for this purpose. When you're at an airport, you can show your phone and a facial recognition camera will try to confirm your identity with your passport photo.
A digital travel certificate
One of the most common practices is the use of a "digital travel certificate". A DTC, according to the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which consists of two parts: a virtual part, which represents the information stored in passports, and a physical part, on your phone. The two are encrypted to ensure they are not faked.
There are three different approaches to DTC, two of which require you to carry (but not necessarily use) paper passports, while the third, which can take a few years, doesn't even require a passport. Earlier this year, officials in Finland conducted a small-scale trial of a DTC on 22 airline routes, using a mobile app that had been developed. While passengers still had passports with them, the country's border guards concluded that checks took just eight seconds, while technical processing took two seconds.
Concerns about how data is protected
While an end to frustrating airport queues would be welcome for many, the move to digital travel documents raises concerns about how data will be protected, the normalization of surveillance technology such as facial recognition, and whether digital identity systems will further extend to other segments of society and who ultimately controls or manufactures the technological achievements.
Many companies around the world are building verification systems to help people prove they are who they say they are, which may include linking to official government databases or systems.
In India, Digi Yatra's facial recognition boarding system has faced multiple criticisms over how it was introduced and how people signed up. The system, which operates at 24 airports across the country, may open to foreign nationals in 2025. Meanwhile, there are plans to expand the ID technology to hotels and historic sites.
Source: in.gr
