INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Zamna — which uses a blockchain to securely share and verify data between airlines and travel authorities to check passenger identities
— has raised a $5 million seed funding round led by VC firms LocalGlobe and Oxford Capital, alongside Seedcamp, the London Co-Investment
Fund (LCIF), Telefonica and a number of angel investors.Participation has also come from existing investor IAG (International Airlines
Group), which is now its first commercial client
The company also changed its name from VChain Technology to Zamna .When VChain-now-Zamna first appeared, I must admit I was confused
Using blockchain to verify passenger data seemed like a hammer to crack a nut
But it turns out to have some surprisingly useful applications.The idea is to use it to verify and connect the passenger data sets which are
currently siloed between airlines, governments and security agencies
By doing this, says Zamna, you can reduce the need for manual or other checks by up to 90%
If that’s the case, then it’s quite a leap in efficiency.In theory, as more passenger identities are verified digitally over time and
shared securely between parties, using a blockchain in the middle to maintain data security and passenger privacy, the airport security
process could become virtually seamless and allow passengers to sail through airports without needing physical documentation or repeated ID
Sounds good to me.Zamna says its proprietary Advance Passenger Information (API) validation platform for biographic and biometric data is
already being deployed by some airlines and immigration authorities
It recently started working with Emirates Airline and the UAE’s General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners (GDRFA) to deliver
check-in and transit checks.Here’s how it works: Zamna’s platform is built on algorithms that check the accuracy of Advanced Passenger
Information or biometric data, without having to share any of that data with third parties, because it attaches an anonymous token to the
Airlines, airports and governments can then access that secure, immutable and distributed network of validated tokens without having
actually needing to “see” the data an agency, or competing airline, holds
Zamna’s technology can then be used by any of these parties to validate passengers’ biographic and biometric data, using cryptography to
check you are who you say you are.So, what was wrong with the previous security measures in airports for airlines and border control that
Zamna might be fixing?Speaking to TechCrunch, Irra Ariella Khi, co-founder and CEO of Zamna, says: “There is a preconception that when you
arrive at the airport somehow — as if by magic — the airline knows who you are, the security agencies know who you are and the
governments of departure and destination both know that you are flying between their countries and have established that it is both
legitimate and secure for you to do so
You may even assume that the respective security authorities have exchanged some intelligence about you as a passenger, to establish that
both you and your fellow passengers are safe to board the same plane.”“However,” she says, “the reality is far from this
There is no easy and secure way for airlines and government agencies to share or cross-reference your data — which remains siloed (for
valid data protection reasons)
They must, therefore, repeat manual one-off data checks each time you travel
Even if you have provided your identity data and checked-in in advance, and if you travel from the same airport on the same airline many
times over, you will find that you are still subject to the same one-off passenger processing (which you have probably already experienced
Importantly, there is an ‘identity verification event,’ whereby the airline must check both the document of identity which you carry, as
well as establish that it belongs to your physical identity.”There are three main trends in this space
Governments are demanding more accurate passenger data from airlines (for both departure and destination) — and increasing the regulatory
fines imposed for incorrect data provided to them by the airlines
Secondly, airlines also have to manage the repatriation of passengers and luggage if they are refused entry by a government due to incorrect
And thirdly, ETA (electronic transit authorizations, such as eVisas) are on the rise, and governments and airlines will need to satisfy
themselves that a passenger’s data matches exactly that of their relevant ETA in order to establish that they have the correct status to
This is the case with ESTAs for all U.S.-bound travelers
Many other countries have similar requirements
travelers, this will also be the case for all passengers traveling into Europe under the incoming ETIAS regulations.The upshot is that
airlines are imposing increased document and identity checks at the airports — regardless of whether the passenger has been a regular
flier, and irrespective of whether they have checked-in in advance.Zamna’s data verification platform pulls together multiple stakeholders
(airlines, governments, security agencies) with a way to validate and revalidate passenger identity and data (both biographic and
biometric), and to securely establish data ownership — before passengers arrive at the airport.It doesn’t require any new infrastructure
at the airport, and none of these entities have to share data, because the “sharing without sharing” is performed by Zamna’s
blockchain platform in the middle of all the data sources.Remus Brett, partner at LocalGlobe, says: “With passenger numbers expected to
double in the next 20 years, new technology-driven solutions are the only way airlines, airports and governments will be able to cope
We’re delighted to be working with the Zamna team and believe they can play a key role in addressing these challenges.” Dupsy Abiola,
Global Head of Innovation at International Airlines Group, adds: “Zamna is working with IAG on a digital transformation project involving
British Airways and the other IAG carriers
It’s very exciting.”Zamna is a strategic partner to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and an active member of IATA’s
