If you reside in California, a Whole Foods may be opening up nearby that will provide Amazon’s palm-reading identification technology. You have to hold your palm over a scanning gadget to use this touchless technology. You can check in at secure sites, make a credit card payment, and perform other identity-required operations when it confirms your identity. It is comparable to existing systems that rely on your face or fingerprint, except it excludes smartphones. Amazon is planning to spread it to dozens of stores throughout the Golden State since it was initially introduced in 2020.
You must get your palm scanned at an Amazon kiosk in order to begin using the Amazon One system. These are found at stores where the system is already in use. According to Ars Technica, the scan is subsequently encrypted and transferred to Amazon’s servers. It was initially introduced by Amazon in both its now-defunct physical bookstores and its cashier-free Amazon Go locations. It also makes use of it at its Los Angeles clothing store. Previously, the technology had only been installed at a few Whole Foods stores in California, but the company is now expanding.
The best way to confirm your identity, according to Amazon, is to scan your palm. This is due to the fact that it is made up of various layers of distinguishing features. You are the only one with this, and it seldom ever changes. It’s unclear how that varies from a fingerprint or your face. Amazon also makes a big deal out of the touchless part of the scan, but that doesn’t make it any better than holding your smartphone in front of a scanner like we can do right now.
Despite the advantages, Amazon has had some trouble convincing other companies to use its method. It doesn’t have to be specifically for payments because it can be used to confirm your identity. Additionally, it can be used to enter restricted areas like office buildings or live events. However, following an artist-led protest, Colorado’s renowned Red Rocks Amphitheater declared in March of this year that it will stop using the technology. Thirty advocacy groups, who were concerned about how Amazon would handle customers’ data, joined the demonstration.
Not just privacy campaigners and rock stars worry about this. After learning that Amazon was paying customers $10 to scan their palms, a bipartisan group of three Senators pressed the corporation for further information last year. Amazon’s use of the cloud to store biometric data was one of the issues raised by MPs. Both Samsung and Apple devices use biometric technology, however for security purposes, the information is stored on the device. However, Amazon claims that security is its top priority. In order to accomplish this, it claims that the cloud where the data is kept is extremely secure and “custom-built” for biometrics. Additionally, it states that you can remove your data from the system at any Amazon One kiosk or online.
