SSI plots a path to seamless travel with reusable digital credentials

The travel sector is becoming one of the busiest for biometrics and digital ID providers, with new trends and challenges in biometric applications arising daily. Digital identity and facial recognition are becoming staples of airport and border operations, and more and more countries are adopting digital travel credentials at border and customs checkpoints.

This week, the UK made it mandatory for citizens from 50 countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Australia, to obtain an electronic travel authorization (ETA) before entering CTV News says the measure went live on January 8, and will expand to cover travelers from the EU in April.

SSI combines verifiable credentials, wallets to ‘go anywhere’

Among enabling concepts and tools for a new era of secure, seamless travel experiences, one of the most discussed is self-sovereign identity (SSI). The decentralized model for identity management promises individuals complete control over their data. It is a conceptual framework rather than a specific technology; per the SSI entry on Wikipedia, it summarizes “all components of the decentralized identity model: digital wallets, digital credentials, and digital connections.”

Speaking during a panel discussion at the recent Phocuswright Conference, Shane O’Flaherty, global director of travel and hospitality at Microsoft, compares self sovereign ID to a software interface. “If I own my own data, essentially you become kind of your own API, which can then permission people into your worlds and exchange information with them,” O’Flaherty says.

Concepts aside, reusable digital travel credentials aim to enable a smooth, seamless travel experience that bridges air travel, border security and accommodation. Panelist Vikas Bhola, CEO of Amsterdam-based travel startup NeoKe, offers a real-world example in his company’s partnership with IATA and Narita and Hong Kong airports, “where two passengers traveled from Hong Kong to Tokyo without any physical document check” using biometrics, verifiable credentials and wallets.

Bhola says building digital travel credentials (or DTCs) on standards is the key to a trusted ecosystem, in which a credential verified with biometrics “can go anywhere.” He notes that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) “has very strict standards on how these digital identities are onboarded.” As standards and interoperability build a deeper foundation of trust, provided ecosystems remain open and transparent, use cases for digital credentials will grow across the travel journey.

“We’ve waited for a long time in the travel industry for the connected journey,” O’Flaherty says.  “And it just hasn’t happened, because airlines and airports don’t even share information together.  So, you know, flip the model: we’re in control as a consumer and then theoretically we can create that connected journey.”

Alleviating pain points in land, air and sea travel

While SSI aims for a world in which a thumbprint could take you from booking a flight all the way to hotel check-in, present applications tend to focus on alleviating pain points in passenger processing.

A facial recognition deployment for cruise travelers at the port of Palm Beach, Florida has yielded “phenomenal results,” according to a brief in Cruise Hive. The port reportedly set a record on the day the facial recognition tech came into full effect, processing more than 1,400 cruise passengers before 10 a.m.

Internationally, travel hubs in Costa Rica, Thailand and Taiwan have added biometric options for immigration and customs processing. The Tico Times reports that San Jose’s Juan Santamaría International Airport is set to install electronic immigration gates starting in July 2025.

The goal is to increase capacity and “modernize the immigration control areas with processing times of 10 to a maximum of 15 seconds.”

The Bangkok Post reports that Airports of Thailand is improving biometric identification systems implemented at six major international airports in the country, to better support a wide array of ID cards.

And, in Taiwan, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) has announced an update to e-Gate eligibility criteria, and a forthcoming expansion of its e-Gate system. “Starting January 1, 2025, the minimum age for applying to use e-Gate will be lowered from 12 to 10 years, and the height requirement will be reduced from 140 cm to 120 cm,” says a release.

Forty-nine new e-Gates came online at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in late December 2024, and an additional 27 are planned for installation at Kaohsiung, Songshan and Taichung airports in 2025.

Article Topics

airports  |  biometrics  |  digital travel  |  digital wallets  |  facial recognition  |  port security  |  reusable identity  |  self-sovereign identity  |  verifiable credentials