International Air Transport uses blockchain identity technology for secure travel

SITA, the leading IT business solutions and communications service provider for the global air transport industry, is exploring the potential of blockchain technology to provide passengers with a secure single travel identity at airports and border controls. This revolutionary technology enables secure and effective biometric identification of passengers when they undergo border control. In addition to replacing multiple travel documents, passengers do not need to share personal data.

SITA’s technology research group, SITA Lab, is currently investigating how virtual or digital passports could be used as a single, secure identifier on mobile and wearable devices, thereby reducing the complexity, cost and disadvantages of document checks during travel.

Jim Peters, SITA Chief Technology Officer, said: “SITA’s vision is to create safe and seamless travel. So far, technology has helped SITA achieve this goal at many airports and more than 30 border control points around the world. However, the current computer system configuration requires multiple data exchanges between different agencies and multiple control links, which makes it difficult to create a single global system.”

“Now, blockchain technology has given us the opportunity to provide a completely new way to use biometrics. Biometrics will be widely used at border checkpoints and all airports without the need for each relevant agency to store passenger information.”

SITA’s innovative research envisions passengers creating a verifiable “identity” on their phone that contains their biometrics and other personal data. In future travel enabled by this technology, any relevant agency could easily scan your face and device to determine if you are an authorized passenger, no matter where in the world you are traveling. This can be achieved without the agencies having to control or store the passenger’s biometric information. SITA Lab has been working with blockchain technology pioneer ShoCard on the initial prototype of these concepts, which were demonstrated at the SITA Air Transport IT Summit in Barcelona.

“At ShoCard, we’ve witnessed a digital revolution when travelers provided their verifiable identity information to a third party,” said Armin Ebrahimi, Founder and CEO of ShoCard. “Today, we are demonstrating how an identity platform built on blockchain technology, combined with SITA’s unique air transport and border management solutions, can improve the travel experience while ensuring security.”

Peters added: “Blockchain technology offers a revolutionary approach to computing. It fundamentally changes the way we design systems because we can now create globally decentralized and distributed databases that are tamper-proof. However, it is still in its early stages and its scalability and adoption have yet to be tested. But SITA Lab is now focusing on how the air transport industry – airlines, airports and government agencies – can take advantage of the new era of trust that blockchain technology can provide, rather than relying on individuals or institutions.”

SITA researchers are working on a universal security system to ensure that a single travel identity works globally and at all border checkpoints. Blockchain is designed to protect privacy from the beginning, so that passenger data can be secure, encrypted and tamper-proof and cannot be used for any other purpose. At the same time, no single organization needs to own, process or store the data. Blockchain, a cryptographic computer science, creates a network of trust where everyone can verify the source and history of the data.

Peters added: “This is a completely new way of working, but at its core, a ‘blockchain’ is just a database where anonymous records and confirmations are processed. Whether it is used for currency circulation or travel, it is just a record of events shared between multiple parties, but most importantly, once the information is entered, it cannot be changed, and privacy and security are protected by design.”

SITA's research into the future of traveller identification is part of its ongoing research investment for the benefit of the entire air transport industry. Identity management enables passengers to move safely and quickly through airports and is one of five industry research projects SITA has launched to address some of the industry's toughest challenges. The other four projects are: new baggage tracking capabilities to meet the requirements of IATA Resolution 753, the rollout of IATA's New Distribution Capability (NDC), an industry-wide disruption warning system and strengthening cybersecurity across the industry.