India is rapidly rolling out facial recognition technology at airports, streamlining security checks amid concern about the emergence of a surveillance state in the world’s largest democracy.
The use of digital biometric systems doubled last month to 28 airports, covering about 90 per cent of India’s sky-bound travel volumes, according to Suresh Khadakbhavi, chief executive of the Digi Yatra Foundation, an industry-led initiative co-ordinated by the country’s civil aviation ministry.
Since launching in December 2022, Digi Yatra has become a critical part of the government’s ambition to turn India into a global aviation hub. The voluntary system, which eliminates the need for airport boarding pass or ID checks for domestic passengers who submit a selfie photograph in advance, is marketed as a measure to ease bottlenecks as terminals cope with burgeoning passenger numbers.