How will digital IDs transform the future passenger travel experience?
How will digital IDs transform the future passenger travel experience? Digital ID solutions, such as VeriGO® MobileTravel Assist, make life easier, more convenient and more secure.
Digital ID documents and digital travel credentials (DTC) are key to dealing with growing air passenger numbers. What’s more, these help to ensure a contactless, seamless travel experience from curb to gate. This makes the need for secure, reliable digital identity solutions paramount in order to ensure a safe, easy border control process and a stress-free journey for travelers.
More citizens are starting to appreciate the range of benefits that digital IDs present. Once stored, digital IDs are always available on a smartphone. Moreover, they offer a reliable means of checking for authenticity. Most of all, digital IDs offer greater convenience, allowing people to carry out authentication processes from the comfort of their home or even on the move.
Nevertheless, there remains a need for physical ID documents: digital IDs aim to complement, not replace, physical, government-issued ID documents, says Marc-Julian Siewert, CEO of Veridos. “Currently, governments around the world still rely on physical documents – with good reason. Firstly, there is the issue of security because physical documents have a wide range of features such as watermarks or holographic images.”
Secondly, there is a lack of nationwide IT infrastructures to deploy ID documents across the board. At the same time, the international standards necessary for the problem-free global use of virtual documents have yet to be introduced. “Therefore, the passport at least, which is the most powerful document we have, will remain with us in its current form for some time,” says Siewert.
VeriGO MobileTravelAssist: ePassport Data Goes Mobile
Controlling your own ID data
In this digital age, it is vital to be able to establish citizens’ trust, particularly when it comes to data privacy. In this regard, one interesting emerging approach is Self-Sovereign ID (SSI). This allows data to remain with citizens. In other words, they control and own their ID data and determine what data to share, when and with whom, says Siewert. “Such a system gives citizens the freedom to confidently shape the digital future. When we talk about legal identities, ultimately it is all about trust and security.”
Veridos is likewise boosting its research and development in state-of-the-art digital infrastructures. For example, Veridos has recently invested in NetSeT, which specializes in the development of complex information systems for citizen data management and information security. “In short, a software think tank,” explains Siewert.
Digital ID makes travel smoother
Automated, digitalized border controls securely capture and verify biometric data, thereby reassuring border authorities. This speeds up the handling of passenger flows, meaning that travelers no longer have to queue for ages to have their passports manually checked.
Veridos has introduced a range of safe and innovative border control solutions around the world to transform border security. For example, it implemented self-service kiosks for pre-registration at Luxembourg airport in 2022. eGates allow travelers to place their passports on a reader, making the entire travel process smoother and more efficient.
VeriCHECK eGate
ePassport data within a mobile app
VeriGO® MobileTravel Assist is another Veridos solution that eases and secures the travel experience. VeriGO® MobileTravel Assist works by retrieving a traveler’s information from an existing electronic passport. The traveler simply downloads the mobile app and securely retrieves the personal data stored in the app. He or she can then remotely transfer this data to any registered relying party, including border authorities or airlines, to securely access a remote service, such as applying for a visa online.
On a desktop browser, the traveler can use their smart phone to capture the QR code generated on the website. This secures the connection, allowing for the safe transfer of any selected passport data sets.
VeriGO® MobileTravel Assist is fully compliant with international standards, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) digital travel credentials for machine readable travel documents. By enhancing the quality of background data checks of passengers, the solution adds up to a faster, more efficient seamless passenger travel experience.
Looking ahead, passengers can look forward to other sophisticated digital identity products being introduced. Digital IDs can serve to secure and enhance their daily lives while complementing existing physical IDs. As Siewert concludes: “The physical identity document will be with us for us some time, but the alternative technologies are already waiting in the wings.”
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