Automatic Entry: Convenience and Risks

SGGP 10/02/2023 08:25

It's one of the world's busiest airports, but from 2024, travelling through Singapore's Changi Airport could be much more comfortable, as residents and visitors will no longer need to show their passports to clear immigration. Instead, their identities will be verified using biometric data.

The future of aviation

The “Lion Island” parliament has just passed a law allowing passport-free travel, which will take effect as early as the first half of 2024. According to Singapore’s Communications Minister Josephine Teo: “Singapore will be one of the first few countries in the world to apply an automatic, passport-free entry process.”

Under the plan, passengers’ biometric data will be used to generate a unique authentication code that will be used at various automated touchpoints across the airport, including baggage drop, immigration and boarding. “This will reduce the need for passengers to repeatedly present their travel documents at touchpoints, allowing for more seamless and convenient customs clearance,” said Ms Josephine Teo.

Facial recognition technology is widely used

Changi is not the only airport that is doing away with passports. Travelers passing through Terminal 3 at Dubai Airport in the United Arab Emirates will be able to check in, go through security and board flights without showing their passports from November. Observers say seamless travel is gaining popularity around the world and biometric identification technology could soon be the future of air travel.

In July, the Australian Tourism and Transport Forum (TFF) called on the Australian and New Zealand governments to establish a joint task force to develop a seamless border. TFF proposed reforms for travel between the two countries, including the use of facial recognition technology to eliminate the need to present boarding passes and passports, helping to speed up the customs clearance process.

In fact, facial recognition technology has been used to varying degrees at many airports around the world, such as Narita, Haneda in Tokyo (Japan), Heathrow in London (UK), Charles de Gaulle in Paris (France)... In the US, airlines such as American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines have been testing biometric check-in services for the past few years.

Potential risks

On privacy and cybersecurity, Ms Josephine Teo said that only Singapore companies can undertake IT projects involving the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA). Service providers will be bound by an agreement and may be held criminally liable for breaches. For flights departing through biometric clearance at Changi Airport, Changi Airport Group will have to share data with ICA.

Passenger data will be encrypted and passed through secure data exchange gateways. Requests for access and disclosure of data for limited purposes as set out in the Immigration Act of Singapore, will only be made with the approval of the Singapore Minister for Home Affairs.

However, Professor Katina Michael of the School of Information and Computing at the University of Wollongong (Australia) said that passengers can still be exposed to risks of sensitive data just for convenience. “Biometric data (eyes, fingerprints, faces) are encrypted when stored so that people cannot access it. However, we have encountered incidents of biometric data being stolen,” said Ms. Michael. According to the professor, the possibility of biometric data being later sold on the dark web or used to create deepfakes (a type of technique that uses artificial intelligence to create fake, false images, sounds and videos) is entirely possible.

But that’s not Professor Michael’s only concern. “There will be cases where the scans fail, and then what happens? Someone can be questioned, but they can’t really prove their identity without their documents,” she said. Professor Michael cautioned against doing away with physical passports altogether. “It’s fine to want to use biometrics, but the authorities should also give individuals the right to prove who they are through their physical identity documents,” she noted.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nhap-canh-tu-dong-tien-loi-va-rui-ro-post707985.html