Checkin.com deal, Incheon expansion plan reflect airport biometrics’ ascent

A major Canadian airline is the latest to contract biometric passenger identity verification, as the aviation industry continues to work on speeding up passenger flows. Biometric passenger processing volumes are increasing, and providers like SITA are taking steps to secure their systems, but the industry is also facing questions about surveillance and privacy protection.

Checkin.com scores biometric IDV deal with Canada’s WestJet

Checkin.com has announced a new deal with Canada’s second-largest airline, WestJet, bringing the Swedish identity verification company into the North American market.

The airline will use Checkin.com’s software to speed up the identification of some of its 25 million customers traveling to over 100 destinations around the world. Although Checkin.com is already collaborating with a European airline, its CEO Christian Karlsson says that the deal with an airline of this caliber represents a breakthrough for the company.

Checkin.com added face biometrics to its portfolio with the acquisition of GetID in 2021, and integrated Paravision’s liveness detection last year to improve its security against identity fraud.

SITA to use Palo Alto Networks cybersecurity protection

As airports face increasing risks from cyberattacks, air transport technology firms such as SITA are looking to boost the protection of their digital infrastructure, and the biometrics and other sensitive data they handle. To do so, SITA has chosen cybersecurity tools from Palo Alto Networks.

According to its announcement, SITA will provide the management and operation from its CyberSOC solution which secures access from remote sites, mobile workforce and airport assets such as check-in workstations, self-service kiosks, tablets, smartphones and baggage scanners. The new, combined solution is called SITA Managed Security Service Edge (SSE) and offers a complete suite of network security services delivered from Palo Alto Networks’ dedicated cloud platform.

South Korea’s Incheon Airport explores connecting Smart Pass to other airports

South Korea’s Incheon International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, is working on connecting its facial recognition passenger boarding systems to other airports.

Incheon Airport introduced its Smart Pass biometric boarding system in 2023 with the help of software from Alchera. The airport is now trying to enable passengers to use the same technology at the destination airport, says Soonil Hwang, deputy director of Incheon’s Fast Travel Team.

“We are now working on connecting this Smart Pass system or maybe some face ID systems with the other airports,” Hwang said at the FTE APEX Asia Expo 2024.

Incheon Airport has so far installed self-service check-in and bag drop and biometric e-gates. In the future, separated services will be connected through One ID, designed in cooperation with other airports and industry stakeholders, according to Future Travel Experience.

Investigation warns of risks to personal data in airline systems

Airlines and governments are increasingly collecting data about passengers through Passenger Name Records (PNR), Advanced Passenger Information (API), flight booking data, visa applications and more. Technology firms such as Idemia, SITA, Travizory, and WCC Group have recognized the value of this data and are experimenting to develop algorithms that could flag potential threats and decide who gets to cross the border.

But while these surveillance systems may provide convenience, they are also deeply untransparent. Moreover, little data is known about the accuracy of such datasets while passengers have no insight into how their data is being used. This could potentially lead to harm, including surveillance and flagging innocent people by a machine as risky, according to a new investigation conducted by Lighthouse Reports and published by Wired.

Private companies are not the only ones involved in developing these systems. The U.S. has the Automated Targeting System-Global system while the United Nations has used goTravel, which is active in five countries. Former UN Special Rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin has been warning against the project, alleging that it represents a human rights risk and a serious reputational risk for the UN.

Article Topics

airports  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  Checkin.com  |  facial recognition  |  identity verification  |  passenger processing  |  SITA