Digi Yatra, India's airport facial recognition program, has once again sparked controversy following an update to the app and accusations that passengers' personal information was compromised, The Hindu reported. The allegations allegedly involve his company, DataEvolve, which created a previous version of the app.
The company's app was used by the Andhra Pradesh Police from 2019 to 2023, but its use was discontinued due to fraud charges.
Digi Yatra Foundation issued an official statement on March 27, asking users to uninstall old versions of the app, install the new version and re-register their accounts.
“The Digi Yatra Foundation CEO also confirmed that DataEvolve has been permanently removed from the Digi Yatra ecosystem,” the foundation said at the time. “No one has access to DY users' personal data, including Digi Yatra Foundation.”
According to The Hindu, a representative from the Ministry of Civil Aviation told lawmakers in January that “all data is stored on passengers' mobile phones.”
Since the statement on March 27, the foundation's CEO Suresh Khadakbhavi had told PTI, “The data resides only on the user's mobile phone and the data is under the control of the passenger himself. ” he said.
“Only the billing account and management was through DataEvolve,” Khadakbhavi added.
As of last week, the foundation said there was “no connection between Digi Yatra and DataEvolve,” WION reported.
However, The Hindu also reported that user Masu. Users claim that the new app is communicating with Digi Yatra Foundation.
A Digi Yatra user told the magazine that a colleague at IDFC Bank informed him that the app had been compromised.
DataEvolve's app was used for traffic fines in Andhra Pradesh until authorities discovered a discrepancy between the amount collected and the amount deposited.
This turmoil and history provides ample opportunity for digital rights advocacy groups. The Internet Freedom Foundation suggests that Digi Yatra has “repeatedly failed to disclose its data storage, processing, and sharing practices, and has never publicly disclosed any data security audits it purportedly conducted.” I am. The group claims DataEvolve was not the right contractor for the project and is asking Indians to abandon the program.
According to a report in Outlook, Access Now suggests that there are problems with the ownership structure of the company running the Digi Yatra programme, with Airports Authority of India having only 26% ownership, making it one of India's five It is said that one airport manages it.
Digi Yatra has recently come under fire related to both security breaches and data privacy concerns.
Article topics
Airports | Biometrics | Data Privacy | Data Evolve | Digi Yatra | Digital Identity | Facial Biometrics | India | Mobile Apps