Today’s passengers have high expectations of the customer experience they want during their travels. One particular aspect of these expectations has presented airports, governments and other stakeholders with a formidable challenge – how do you reconcile the demand for efficient, seamless journeys with the equally strong demand for increased security?
Technology providers to the air transport industry have long juggled these conflicting demands. For those taking on the challenge of security, it means balancing traveler convenience with the need to securely check travellers identities to know who is passing through each point in the travel process and whether they might pose a threat.
Steady progress has been made and, the air transport industry is on the cusp of a truly seamless, secure walkthrough experience. Unsurprisingly, technology lies at the heart of all significant developments in this area.
Digital identification
In the air transport industry, there’s no doubt that new technologies have made it easier to reliably check traveller identities. Particularly, the widespread adoption of ePassports reduces the opportunity for identity fraud, including live biometric checks against face and fingerprint biometric data digitally encoded within a chip embedded in the physical ePassport book.
However, while improving existing identification methods, the static nature of the current solutions is limiting. An ePassport may contain biometric and passport information but it can’t be extended with dynamic meta-data associated with a traveler. For example, there is no way to securely embed certifications for the identity of the individual such as a travel token, loyalty points, or other attributes that could be used by other service providers and control authorities to enhance a traveler’s experience or to improve security. Instead an ePassport necessarily requires a second form of documentation such as separate boarding pass or travel authorization.
The emergence of mobile digital identities
The prominence of mobile devices in recent times has allowed individuals to increasingly use their digital credentials in both the physical and on-line worlds. The use of digital identification is a phenomenon occurring across many different industries, including but not limited to the financial services and health-care industries.
Precedents are being set and standards are being developed as these industries move toward online identity checks, often through their customers’ mobile devices. With an increasing absence of face-to-face verification of individuals, digital identification has become paramount to fraud prevention efforts. New trends are emerging to harness the power of shared identification of individuals across multiple entities that share the same customer base. Clearly it’s an area that’s developing quickly and consumer expectations will continue to move at the same pace.
Single token travel
Enter single token travel.
As part of ongoing research into optimizing the travel experience, SITA is exploring the potential of single token travel to allow travelers to pass through the airport, including crossing borders, with a single, digitally verified identity. Hailed by some as the air transport industry’s ‘Uber moment’, single token travel has the potential to make the travel experience ‘friction-less’. It will make moving through airports and across borders easier while dramatically improving security. The combination is a potent one.
Earlier this year SITA revealed Smart Path, a new capability that allows passengers to move through the airport and board the aircraft simply by verifying their identity at each step using a biometric. Once enroled there is no need for the passenger to present a boarding pass, a passport or travel documents again.
The passenger’s details, including their live biometric, are enroled at the first touch point in the journey. Their identity is checked against their travel documents, typically the e-Passport, and a secure single token is created. Then, at each step of the journey – from check-in to the aircraft – passengers gain access simply with a biometric check and without having to show their passport or boarding pass again.
The capability puts a fast, secure and seamless walkthrough experience within reach of today’s passengers. The offering is unique in that it can be easily integrated into existing common use airport infrastructure and existing airline systems. This includes the extensive common-use, self-service range of passenger touch points already in use across the industry – check-in kiosks, bag drop units, gates for secure access, and boarding and automated border control – making rapid deployment easy and cost-effective. It also integrates with government systems and databases, facilitating fast and secure automated immigration and border checks.
Streamlining border management is a key element of IATA’s Simplifying the Business initiative and SITA, a strong supporter of the program, strongly believes the industry should build support around single token travel as the answer to smarter border management.
SITA launched this technology off the back of a strong record of introducing new self-service solutions across the entire passenger journey for both airlines and airports. It is the latest in a long line of sophisticated border management systems used by governments around the world. Everyday hundreds of airlines use SITA technology to connect with government identity management and risk assessment systems in countries all around the world.
Single token travel simplifies secure, passenger processing for everyone – airlines, airports and border authorities. It has already been trialed at a major airport in the Middle East where the system captures passengers’ biometrics at the transfer security checkpoint and then verifies the passenger against the stored single token when boarding the aircraft.
With the majority of travelers using this airport to connect to another flight, the use of a single token will help dramatically improve security oversight by providing a verified exit check for transfer passengers. When the passenger goes to board their connecting flight, the biometric information is cross-referenced with the government systems, providing a clear and accurate entry and exit record. A mobile system will also capture biometric details from e-passports using a hand-held smart device, allowing checks to be conducted anywhere in the airport by roving immigration agents.
Next SITA will trial the technology at a similar-sized major international airport, also in the Middle East, using the single token solution across the entire journey from check-in to boarding. It’s not difficult to see why airports and airlines would embrace this technology so enthusiastically. It will improve security oversight and elevate the passenger’s travel experience while speeding up passenger processing and reducing the resources needed to manage the travel journey.
Blockchain
As with all industries looking to leverage the latest technologies, the air transport industry is constantly looking at how new and future technologies can come together to create an end-product which represents more than the sum of their parts. As could be the case with the latest, SITA-led development in travel identity management: blockchain-enabled single travel tokens.
Blockchain technology is most famous for being the underlying technology behind Bitcoin but it could also help revolutionize traveler identity management thanks to its ability to ensure data privacy.
SITA’s innovative research shows us that blockchain could enable passengers to create a verifiable digital identity on their mobile which contains biometric and other personal data. In this future world of travel, no matter what country you’re in any authority can simply scan your face and scan your device to verify who you are and your status as a traveler. Crucially, this can all be done without these agencies ever controlling or storing your biometric details or personal information since the entire transaction takes place securely on the mobile device.
In terms of security, blockchain technology ensures that passenger data is secure, encrypted, tamper-proof and unusable for any other purpose. At the same time, it eliminates the need for a single authority to own, process or store the data. The crypto-led computer science of blockchain provides a network of trust, where the source and history of the data is verifiable by everyone.
SITA has recently worked with blockchain start-up ShoCard to demonstrate the technology through the SITA-enabled Digital Traveler Identity App (Traveler App) aimed at easing a traveler’s journey through different airports and airlines using a single travel token or identity on the traveler’s mobile device.
The process is quick and easy. Once the traveler has booked their trip, they download the Traveler App, scan their passport and take a selfie. Later when checking-in at the airport – either at an automated kiosk or with an airline agent – the traveler then securely presents their information, via the Traveler App with a Quick Response code. At this point, the traveler may be asked to present their physical passport and other booking information for additional verification purposes. If at a kiosk, a new image is taken for facial comparison with the selfie or the agent can verify the selfie against the traveler in their presence. If the traveler’s identity is confirmed, the Digital Traveler Identification is certified and a Single Travel Token is issued.
Once a traveler has their Single Travel Token, they can use the travel token to pass through any checkpoint equipped to process the Digital Traveler Identity App.
At a checkpoint, the user simply presents a new QR code issued at check-in to an agent, or uses a kiosk to scan that code and take another image of the traveler. The travel token is verified for authenticity and origination. The certified selfie of the user is then compared with the new image taken for facial recognition. If the information matches, the traveler can proceed.
The only information shared by the traveler is what he or she chooses to pass on to the agent via the Traveler App, and this only happens when the agent or station does the authentication and verification. No other entity can obtain the information without the traveler’s permission.
The data used to verify a traveler is placed on the blockchain using one-way hashes that are digitally signed by the agent. This method ensures that the data and selfie images being verified were certified by an authorized agent using their private key. The data on the blockchain cannot be reverse engineered.
Any exchange of data between the traveler, an agent or an airline using this system is done through a secure envelope that is digitally signed and encrypted for only the intended recipient. This exchange mechanism follows FIDO’s guidelines for secure exchanges between two parties.
Convenience of travel across multiple providers such as airlines, airports or government authorities usually means giving up control of personally identifiable information. This is because traveler data and identification information must be kept in a central database where agents and authorized users can access it. While access can be limited, privacy cannot be guaranteed using that system. Central databases are subject to the possibility of hacker attacks where large numbers of records can be compromised. These concerns, among others, limit the viability of central database solutions that involve sensitive personally identifiable information.
However, using a blockchain as the central point of validation, the traveler carries their personal data and travel information on a secured mobile device, and only shares select information with entities at their own discretion. Service providers do not need to communicate with other services or databases to validate the data.
Nevertheless, all agents and security personnel, when presented with the traveler’s information and credentials, can validate the authenticity of the data using the publically available blockchain. The data on the blockchain are, by design, only used for validation and do not contain the original data. Hence, hackers are not able to obtain personally identifiable information data from the blockchain.
The future of travel identity management is bright. Some of the most innovative and exciting technologies in the world have enabled technology providers like SITA to create solutions that take airports, airlines and governments yet another step towards better efficiency, enhanced security and improved customer service.
