US Government Could Introduce Blockchain Tech At Airports

When we talk about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology within the US Government, we usually expect officials to shy away and deny that the technology is an advantage. It does seem however that, through recent reports, US authorities could be looking at rolling out blockchain technology to help improve operations at airports with regards to border control, customers and security.

As you know, blockchain technology is for more than just finance. Audit trails, general automation and data confirmation are all aspects of blockchain technology that could come to the fore at airport and border checkpoints, it seems the US government are finally starting to realise this. Evidence of this comes straight out of the recent JetBlue Technology Ventures Blockchain in Travel Summit which took place in New York City this month. Here a number of prolici people from within the airline and travel industries met to discuss how blockchain technology can disrupt and ultimately improve their respective workspaces, this of course included officials concerned with airport and border security - the clear take home message here was that blockchain technology had the ability to create a workable platform for biometric technology, perhaps one of the most secure methods for identity verification currently available.

According to Skift, Sikina Hasham, a Program Manager at US Customs and Border Protection has commented on this concept, discussing the promise biometric tracking technology has. Hasham said:

“One area we’ve seen a significant amount of success in is facial comparison and biometric data. There is a service we’ve created to verify who an individual boarding an aircraft who is as they’re seeking admission into the United States. If we could have more data for the verification from another government party, that would be really great for us.”

Furthermore:

“Our primary goal is security, but also facilitating trade and travel. Blockchain is relatively new for us, we have tried some blockchain technology in the trade space… in the travel space, we are still working on figuring out how industry stakeholders in the technology space will help us get a better sense of the uses of blockchain, privacy and decentralized information are some of the challenges we as a government organization have a legal obligation to protect.”

With trials in place and more testing expected, it might not be too long before we see biometric tracking based checks at airports in the United States, reinforced by blockchain technologies that can ensure total security when it comes to identity verification.