Digi Yatra: No centralised storage, data saved in passenger’s own devices, government informs Rajya Sabha

The Civil Aviation Ministry on Monday informed the Rajya Sabha that the personal information of a passenger is stored in the mobile wallet of the traveller, and there is no centralised storage of the information.

In a written reply to a question regarding the data privacy concerns in Digi Yatra, Minister of State for Civil Aviation General VK Singh (Retd) said the Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem (DYCE) is built on the fundamental tenets of privacy by design and default, and there is no central storage of passenger’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data.

Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem is managed by Digi Yatra Foundation, a Not-For-Profit company made under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, and hence does not come under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Singh said.

The Digi Yatra processes are subjected to audits and certification by CERT-In empanelled agencies to ensure adherence to data privacy and security standards,” the minister said.

Digi Yatra Guidelines have been issued by DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) through the Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) No. 09/2022 dated April 18, 2022. These Digi Yatra guidelines provide for a decentralised mobile wallet-based identity management platform, the MoS for Civil Aviation informed the House.

“The personal information of the passenger is stored in the mobile wallet of the traveller. The same are shared with the departure airport in an encrypted format, and data is purged from the system after 24 hours of departure of the flight. This addresses the data protection issues in the implementation of Digi Yatra,” he added.

It is important to note that Digi Yatra is a biometric boarding system using facial recognition technology to provide a seamless and hassle-free experience for passengers at airports.

All the passengers’ data is encrypted and stored in the wallet of their smartphone. It is shared only between the passenger and the airport of travel origin, where the passenger’s DigiYatra ID needs to be validated.

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