Digi Yatra user data is secure, no PII stored: DigiYatra Foundation

The Digi Yatra Foundation has reaffirmed that user privacy is paramount and that all Digi Yatra users are safe and secure. This comes after an investigation by a technologist, published in X, raised questions about access to data and control over user information.

Digi Yatra Foundation (DYF) recently changed to your new application. Passengers are pressured to delete the old app and download a new one, citing system updates.

This paperless 'biometric boarding system' uses facial recognition technology (FRT) for passenger verification at Indian airports.

DYF says Digi Yatra adheres to MOCA policies and holds the mandatory CERT-In audit certificate, which ensures secure security for the entire ecosystem (DYCE backbone, mobile apps and airport verifiers). The latest audit in January 2024 confirmed that no personally identifiable information (PII) is stored in the system, it adds.

“Your data stays on your device! Digi Yatra uses the concept of self-sovereign identity, eliminating the central storage of identification credentials that contain PII. The Digi Yatra blockchain only stores hash/key values ​​for data integrity checks” , he adds.

DYF said the Digi Yatra app stores PII on the user's phone, accessible only by the user. Old data remains on the device until you uninstall the app, automatically deleting credentials and travel history. He added that information shared with airports (identification credentials and boarding pass) is deleted within 24 hours of flight departure, ensuring its use and temporary deletion.

Digi Yatra is scaling rapidly, expanding coverage from 15 to 28 airports by April 2024, including Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dabolim, Indore, Mangalore, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Srinagar, Trivandrum and Visakhapatnam.