Why a neutral
custody layer.
Tracking is getting solved. Liability isn’t.
Why the custody evidence layer must be independent of airline, handler and insurer.
Where the gap actually is in 2026
Apple Find My × SITA WorldTracer
Live since 2024. Consumer “where is my bag” is largely a solved problem.
RAIN RFID · IATA Res. 753
The industry standard for operational scan tracking. Rollout under way at major carriers.
Recovery tags (Okoban, ReturnMe…)
Commodity QR/NFC tags, already integrated with WorldTracer at scale.
Everyone produces tracking data. None of it functions as neutral custody evidence that airline, handler and insurer would all accept when money changes hands. That open layer is our wedge.
Why this layer can’t be owned by an airline, or by SITA
The conflict
Custody evidence supports responsibility attribution between airline, handler and insurer. Records owned by one side of a dispute aren’t accepted by the others, and that is why claims run on email archaeology.
Complement, not competitor
WorldTracer is airline-side operations tooling. We don’t replace it: we ingest its events and seal them into an independently verifiable record. SITA sells operations. We sell verifiability.
No cold start
An evidence pack pays for itself for a single claims team on day one: faster internal resolution, cleaner fraud screening. Cross-party acceptance compounds the value, it isn’t required to start.
Neutrality is the product. Owned by any side of the dispute, this layer dies.
Four forces converging on one open layer
- 01
Scan data finally exists
IATA 753 and RAIN RFID rollout mean custody events are generated at scale. We make them verifiable, we don’t recreate them.
- 02
Expectations reset
Apple × WorldTracer taught passengers that bags are trackable. The pressure has moved downstream, to claims and accountability.
- 03
Regulation tailwind
The EU Digital Product Passport is normalizing lifecycle digital records, category by category.
- 04
Insurer pressure
Fraud exposure and weeks-long cycle times make baggage claims a cost center begging for verifiable evidence.
Custody you can
prove.
Aviation baggage is the wedge, not the ceiling. Where verifiable custody records go next is on the Beyond Baggage page.