Amazon’s New Palm Scanner Uses Your Hand To Checkout
Amazon has found a new application for its palm-scanner technology beyond payments—it can now be used for age verification. In a recent announcement, the company revealed that its Amazon One scanner is capable of verifying a person’s age, providing more functionality than just facilitating payments.
Make Payments Without Your Plastic
The palm-scanning technology, known as Amazon One, is currently utilized in Amazon Go stores and select Whole Foods locations. Customers can conveniently pay for their groceries by simply hovering their palms over a scanner, eliminating the need for credit cards or cash.
The expanded use of Amazon One with age verification will first be implemented at Coors Field, a baseball stadium in Colorado. Afterward, it will be introduced to additional establishments in the following months. This move doesn’t come as a surprise, as my colleague James Vincent foresaw this possibility back in 2020. He noted that Amazon One is not only a payment technology but also an identity technology that could grant Amazon extensive access to people’s lives.
Amazon’s palm-scanning technology, now with age verification capabilities, offers convenience and potential opportunities for various establishments beyond payment processing. However, it also raises questions about privacy and the extent of Amazon’s reach into individuals’ personal information and activities.
Age & Identity Verification In Bars
Amazon is now referring to its One technology as a “palm-based identity service” that can be used to confirm a person’s age when purchasing age-restricted goods like alcoholic beverages. To sign up for age verification, users are required to provide personal information, including palm images, government-issued ID, payment details, and a selfie. Once enrolled, users can scan their hand at participating locations. The bartender or cashier will then see a “21+” message along with the user’s selfie to verify their age and identity. Subsequently, users can use their hand again to complete the payment.
Amazon claims that its palm-scanner technology uses cameras to match various aspects of the user’s palm, such as lines, ridges, and veins, with the stored photos in its cloud. Although this raises privacy and security concerns, Amazon assures users that their palm recognition data is protected. The company states that it employs multiple security controls across hardware, software, and cloud infrastructure to encrypt and secure customer data. While Amazon clarifies that it doesn’t store government-issued IDs, it acknowledges that this information is transmitted through a certified identity verification provider, which verifies the ID, cross-references the selfie, and confirms the user’s age to Amazon.
However, the author of the text expresses their preference for the traditional method of age verification, involving reaching for their wallet, presenting their ID to the bartender, and avoiding the exposure of additional personal information to a technology giant.
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