New Delhi: Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in response to a letter from TMC MP Saket Gokhale on the alleged reports of involuntary gathering of data for the Digi Yatra said that "the consent of the passenger is pre-requisite for taking face biometric on kiosk based registration."
Earlier, Saket Gokhale had written to the Aviation Minister stating that he had received several complaints from people that they were being forced at airports across India to sign up for Digi Yatra or that their biometrics were being sneakily taken without their consent.
There are several other reports which claim the same while the Ministry refuted any such allegations.
Taking it to X, Saket Gokhale shared a letter from Union Minister Scindia which said that "Digi Yatra is a voluntary process for seamless and hassle-free air travel which is purely voluntary. Further, it is basically to be used through the app and all data is stored in the mobile of passengers. To facilitate passengers not having app installed but intend to use Digi Yatra, kiosk-based registration only for the day of travel is provided by airports."
It further said "To support passengers, airports also provide service for Digi buddies. The consent of the passenger is a pre-requisite for taking face biometrics on kiosk-based registration. Further, the data is automatically purged from the Airport system after 24 hours of departure of the flight."
"The issue raised by you has been examined and airport operators have been advised to sensitive Digi buddies on consent taking process and keeping use of Digi Yatra completely voluntary", it added.
