The Paper Passport Is Dying

In a few years, no matter where you live or travel, your face will be your new passport.

For centuries, people have used some form of passport when traveling from place to place. But the spread of passports as we know them today did not begin until much later World War 1while passports were often used as a means of protection and to prevent spies from entering the country. Even then, others thought passports to be “anachronism in the modern world.”

But using passport papers—which was the first it was changed to “e-Passports” with NFC chips in 2006-slowly experiencing one of his biggest transformations to date. Travel companies, airports, and governments are working to eliminate the need to show your passport while flying around the world. Eventually, you won’t need to carry your passport.

Instead, facial recognition technology and mobile phones are increasingly being used to check and verify your identity against travel information before you take off. This machine, he admits, can reduce the waiting time and the “hassle” you experience at airports. But privacy experts warn that there is little transparency about the technologies being used, and their proliferation could lead to data breaches and surveillance.

The push to get rid of paper passports is happening all over the world. Currently, airports in Finland, CanadaThe Netherlands, and United Arab EmiratesUnited Kingdom, ItalyUnited States, Indiaand elsewhere they have been trying different types of travel without a passport or the necessary technology to do so. In October, officials in Singapore he announced that residents can fly to and from the country without using their documents, and foreign visitors “will enjoy passport-free travel when leaving Singapore.” More than 1.5 million people have used the system, officials say.

“It’s probably going to be a big way to travel, as I understand it, in the near future,” says Athina Ioannou, a professor of technology at the University of Surrey in the UK, who has researched the privacy that comes with different brands. types of trips. Mr Ioannou said the Covid-19 pandemic had increased non-connecting travel, and many efforts were directed at trying to get travelers to move quickly through airports.

Although the tests around the world are at different levels and use different technologies, they work in the same way: The information stored in your passport’s NFC chip, including your face, is digitally stored and linked to your phone. The EU is planning to create a union approved travel program for this. When you’re at the airport, the phone can be shown, and a facial recognition camera will try to match you to a passport photo.