The End of the Paper Passport? 

The aviation industry is undergoing the biggest transformation in 50 years, with ICAO and IATA pushing for biometric systems to replace traditional travel documents. Within three years, passengers may only need their face and smartphone to move through airports, with companies like Amadeus leading the technological charge.

There is a mad rush to replace passports with biometric systems as it promises seamless travel. But it comes with a different set of problems: flawed facial recognition tech and increased vulnerability to outages. Anyone remember Crowdstrike? And let’s not even talk about erosion of privacy, as average citizens have already lost that battle. 

Sure, the efficiency gains are real, we’re witnessing the birth of an unprecedented global surveillance infrastructure under the guise of travel convenience. It is ironic considering the EU is pushing hard for this change — and they presentthemselves as paragons of citizen privacy and rights. (My take: they bullshit better with posh accents.) 

Traditional passports, for all their flaws, represent a mutual agreement between citizen and state. Biometric systems, however, transform this relationship into one of continuous monitoring and implicit consent to surveillance.

To me, the biggest concern is the quality of software. Most airlines and other agencies use second-tier software vendors with terrible record of security and ability to build robust software. 

The irreversible nature of biometric data presents unprecedented security risks. Unlike passwords or credit cards, you can’t change your face or fingerprints if compromised. Moreover, the increasing dependence on automated systems makes the entire travel infrastructure more vulnerable to IT outages and cyberattacks, as demonstrated by recent incidents like the Crowdstrike disruption.

Source: Naked Capitalism