Digi Yatra voluntary, data can be collected only after consent: Scindia

Digi Yatra is purely voluntary for air passengers and personnel at airports have been directed to collect data for the application only with the consent of passengers, according to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
There have been complaints that biometric data for Digi Yatra were being gathered from passengers without their consent and the issue was flagged to the minister by Rajya Sabha member Saket Gokhale.
Digi Yatra, which provides for contactless, seamless movement of passengers at various check points at airports based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), is currently available at a minimum 13 airports for domestic passengers.
In response to the member, Scindia has said that the issue was examined and “airport operators have been advised to sensitise Digi buddies on consent taking process and keeping use of Digi Yatra completely voluntary”.
To support passengers with the use of Digi Yatra, services of individuals called Digi buddies have been made available at