Identity and travel documents are increasingly being counterfeited or tampered with, leading to a rise in transnational crime such as human trafficking or terrorism.
Additionally, solely relying on identity and travel verification at the border is inefficient as it creates hassle for both travellers and border authorities with strenuous queues and inefficient resources distribution. Currently, border crossing is far from seamless for all parties involved and calls for innovation for a more frictionless, secure and efficient border crossing experience.
There is thus a need for trustworthy technologies to provide both reliable and efficient frictionless identification and secure identity and travel document verification. Learn how the SafeTravellers solutions address the issue below.
SafeTravellers introduces a new identity management platform combining European Union and Third Country National citizen identification based on multi-modal biometrics, relying the on voluntary enrolment of fingerprints and face by individuals pre-travelling, and improved identity and travel document verification using a set of mechanisms to detect and prevent attacks on biometric systems. As a unique platform for mobile and static devices, SafeTravellers solutions are built to support the widest range of border crossing scenarios with state-of-the-art security across challenging environments.
The one-of-its-kind distributed European Multi-Biometric Data Space introduced by SafeTravellers will allow cross-border identity checks without transferring or revealing any personal data while allowing Member States to keep the data of their citizens.
Two apps were developed to fit border guard and traveller needs across the different phases of digital identity management.
With the Traveller App, European citizens and third country nationals (TCN) can simplify border crossing from the comfort of their home by extracting biometric data from their passport to receive a digital travel credential (DTC). Travellers can then enjoy seamless identification by validating their data with a live mobile check prior to travelling, which will enable security checks to be performed prior to their arrival and use DTCs at border checks instead of physical passports for a smoother and faster experience.
This token will enable border guards to perform 1:1 multi biometric matching at the border, for a streamlined processing of travellers thanks to our Border Guard App. Various technologies will assist border authorities in detecting identity fraud and attacks on biometric systems with explainable results expressed in a clear output.
The project places privacy and fairness at the center of its research. SafeTravellers is compliant with existing and upcoming EU regulation. The solution adheres to ethical standards, is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and incorporates privacy-preserving mechanisms like homomorphic encryption to safeguard citizens’ biometric data. It is aware of the ethical and societal issues underlying security research and considers privacy, consent, and bias mitigation as core components of the development and exploitation of the proposed solution.
Check our Technologies page to learn more.
