Accenture to ink blockchain traveler ID deal with Canada, Netherlands, others: Report

Global accounting giant Accenture will reportedly sign a formal agreement with Canada, the Netherlands, and other groups to utilize blockchain in identifying travelers, Cointelegraph reported citing the company’s managing director of capital markets David Treat.

Speaking at the Synchronize Europe conference in London, Treat revealed the initiative will see the Canadian and Dutch governments, Air France-KLM, Air Canada, and several airports work together under the new collaboration.

Treat will approve the deal, called “Known Traveler Digital Identity,” which aims to customize the encounters of passengers using biometric information, in around 2 weeks’ time. The blockchain-based ID can enable travelers to notify customs authorities of their biometrics and trip itinerary in advance.

“If I’m able to take my user-controlled identity, decide that I actually want to share, so that I can get hyper-personalized service. I want to share aspects of my preferences, my identity with those players [...] in my journey, can I get a better service?” he explained during the conference presentation in London on June 18.

The project initially surfaced in mid-2018 around the World Economic Forum, with officials underscoring the need to facilitate travelers’ data.

Even in the financial industry, banks are starting to adopt blockchain technology to authenticate important documents. Just recently, Warsaw-based Alior Bank is utilizing the public Ethereum blockchain to verify the integrity of the documents of clients.