INAI requested information from AIFA on its biometric data system

Following the implementation of the E-Gates program at Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), through which biometric data will be collected from passengers, the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI) asked the airport to provide further details on the operation of said program.

This system is similar to those used at various international airports, such as those in Paris, London, New York and Argentina. And the fact is that the program allows users to speed up their entry into waiting rooms and boarding at airports.

However, the INAI Commissioner, Adrián Alcalá Méndez, pointed out that it is important to know in greater depth how the data collected will be handled, since given the large amount of information stored, it is necessary to ensure the protection of personal data so that users' rights are not violated.

A private individual requested information about the E-Gate system, but the response he received did not respond to what was originally required, so the applicant had to file an appeal for review with the INAI.

Although Alcalá Méndez acknowledged that the applicant did not specify the administrative units to which the application was turned, in allegations, it stated that two units attached to the Ministry of National Defence (Sedena) had been turned. However, there was no way to verify that the Directorate of Operation and the Directorate of Administration of that unit had in fact been consulted, nor was it demonstrated how these directorates conducted the search for the requested information.

This is in addition to the fact that the allegations indicated that the E-Gates system has not yet been implemented 100%, the commissioner added. In view of this, the Plenary of INAI unanimously revoked the response given by AIFA and instructed it to carry out a new search for the information that had been requested in the competent administrative units, “among which the Directorate of Operation and the Directorate of Administration cannot omit”, it was concluded.

Among the data requested were: knowing how to operate the E-Gates system; which units will safeguard the collected data (or whether the government will do so); if it is an individual, which company would operate the data and for how long; the purposes for which the biometric data will be used; how long will they be protected and the Privacy Notice of this system.

According to Adrián Alcalá, the E-Gates system consists of seven steps:

1.- Consent management

2.- Association to the boarding pass.

3.- Digitization and verification of the passenger's passport.

4.- Reading and verifying the digital passport.

5.- Capture of the passenger's face in a module; or, the taking of a selfie on his cell phone.

6.- Comparison of the registry.

7.- Creation of the digital passenger record.

Thus, with these measures in place, AIFA users will be able to enter the boarding hall without the need to show another document, which speeds up the flow of passengers at the airport.

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