DigiYatra passengers’ data stored on their own device not in centralised storage, govt says 

The DigiYatra facial recognition app does provide a smoother passage through airports, but privacy concerns surrounding the app continue to persist. To address long-standing concerns about the facial recognition app, Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Minister of Civil Aviation, issued a clarification about the app's data sharing processes. In a statement, Scindia explained that the data of DigiYatra passengers is not stored in a centralized location but is instead stored on their own devices.

The privacy concerns about DigiYatra were raised by a Twitter user recently, who claimed that DigiYatra is managed by a private non-profit entity and not by RTI. Reacting to his claims, Scindia confirmed that passengers' personal information is not stored in any central repository or by the Digi Yatra foundation. He added that the information is stored only in the passenger's own phone in the Digi Yatra wallet.

In a separate statement, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation said, "In the Digi Yatra process, there is no central storage of passenger's Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data. 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 Digi Yatra ID needs to be validated. The data is purged from the airport's system within 24 hours of departure of the flight. The data is shared by passengers directly, only when they travel and only to the origin Airport."

The ministry explained that the data that is stored in the airport's system is deleted within 24 hours of the departure of flight. The data is shared by the passenger only with the origin airport.

Digi Yatra is a new system that the Indian government has created to make air travel smoother, easier and more convenient for passengers. Instead of having to show your ticket and ID multiple times at different checkpoints in the airport, you can now just register your details on the Digi Yatra website and use your face as your boarding pass. You will have to register with the app with your boarding pass, Aadhar card and face scan before heading to the Airport. The information will be shared with all DigiYatra outlets at various checkpoints.

Basically, Digi Yatra uses facial recognition technology to identify you as you move through the airport. This makes it faster and more efficient because you don't have to keep showing your documents over and over again.