There are significant downsides to the digitalization of travel documents. The biggest one I can think of is ownership - the UK is moving to an entirely digital visa system and bringing in an ESTA style system called ETA for visa free countries. Unfortunately this means that residency cards for noncitizens are being phased out. This means that when the Home Office messes up and accidentally deletes your immigration status, or you are at an airport with no internet access, you have no evidence whatsoever of what status you hold. It also means you will no longer be in possession of any records that might be useful years in the future when the current database containing immigration records will likely have been replaced. It’s much easier to keep a piece of paper around for 30+ years than it is to make sure a digital record doesn’t rot in that time.
I feel strongly that any future digital travel credentials that are offered by governments should be able to operate entirely offline, and provide records that can be retained by the data subject. That means that revocation is harder, but IMO that’s a tradeoff that is worth making to avoid another Windrush scandal.
This has already become a pain when dealing with countries that don’t stamp passports, because when you need to apply for something that asks for your travel history over the past 10 years, you might not have any records anymore.
I feel strongly that any future digital travel credentials that are offered by governments should be able to operate entirely offline, and provide records that can be retained by the data subject. That means that revocation is harder, but IMO that’s a tradeoff that is worth making to avoid another Windrush scandal.
This has already become a pain when dealing with countries that don’t stamp passports, because when you need to apply for something that asks for your travel history over the past 10 years, you might not have any records anymore.