Privacy, Security and Convenience: Biometric Encryption for Smartphone-Based Electronic Travel Documents

We propose a new paradigm for issuing, storing and verifying travel documents that features entirely digital documents which are bound to the individual by virtue of a privacy–respecting biometrically derived key, and which make use of privacy-respecting digital credentials technology. Currently travel documentation rely either on paper documents or electronic systems requiring connectivity to core servers and databases at the time of verification. If biometrics are used in the traditional way, there are accompanying privacy implications. We present a smartphone-based approach which enables a new kind of biometric checkpoint to be placed at key points throughout the international voyage. These lightweight verification checkpoints would not require storage of biometric information, which can reduce the complexity and risk of implementing these systems from a policy and privacy perspective. Our proposed paradigm promises multiple benefits including increased security in airports, on airlines and at the border, increased traveller convenience, increased biometric privacy, and possibly, lower total cost of system ownership.