During the pandemic, when customers wore plastic gloves to stores along with their masks, Amazon's physical retail team he presented a new biometric device that allows shoppers to pay at Amazon Go stores with the palm of their hand. The company Amazon One supposedly "contactless", a kind of scanner in which the credit card is first inserted and then the palm of the hand is passed over the device to associate the palm signature with its payment mechanism. Once the card is saved, you can enter the store in the future by simply holding your palm over the Amazon One device for a second or so.
While you're not supposed to palm-press on the device itself, it's a new technology that requires user education, and that could be a problem, at least in the short term.
Consumers today are familiar with the idea of pressing a finger to unlock an iPhone with Touch ID, for example, or using a fingerprint to open a secure lock. It is likely that many assume that the palm of the hand should also be placed on the flat surface of the Amazon One.
At any other time, that wouldn't be much of a concern. But given that the device is being introduced in the United States, which is still dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, now may not be the best time to put another potential point of contact at a store entrance.
Amazon, of course, emphasizes that the device is "contactless," something customers will appreciate. But unless store staff are at the entrance cleaning the device regularly, it's likely to be touched a lot as customers become familiar with its exact workings. Eventually, Amazon One may achieve the goal of being "contactless." But in the meantime, the device must be staffed, cleaned, and displayed to everyone who enters.
Amazon says the new device uses real-time computer vision technology to create the unique palm signature, a choice the company made because it believes palm recognition is more private than other means. biometric authentication. That is, you can't determine someone's identity just by looking at their palm image, Amazon says. That may be true, but since the palm signature is associated with a payment card, it is more important that the data is secure than how recognizable the palm image is.
Amazon also says the images are encrypted and sent to a secure area in the cloud, where customers' palm signatures are created. There are no more specific details about this process.
However, Amazon's historical use of biometric products has also been controversial, since it sold biometric facial recognition services to law enforcement in the US. Its facial recognition technology is also the subject of a data privacy lawsuit. Recently, it launched indoor drones for home security, in a new potential threat to the privacy of owners. In terms of privacy of user data, Amazon has also not been careful, for example, by continue to store Alexa voice data even when users deleted the audio files.
This situation creates a space to question Amazon's plans to create a database of biometric data on customers.
Amazon says its new device doesn't require you to have an Amazon.com account to get into the store, just a palm and a phone number, but the customers can associate their account to view their usage history on the Amazon website. They can also add a second palm print if they want.
The Amazon One is being tested at two Seattle-area stores, including the original Amazon Go store at 7th & Blanchard and the South Lake Union store at 300 Boren Ave. North. However, it will not replace the other forms of entry to stores. Customers can still enter using the Amazon Go app, the Amazon app, or cash at a store seller.
The Amazon One doesn't have to be used just to get into retail stores, the company says. Expect the device to be used by third parties, including stadiums and office buildings, as well as other non-Amazon retailers.
Amazon says discussions are underway with some interested parties, but doesn't anticipate anything at this time. However, it is unclear to what extent a third-party retailer would trust Amazon to host their customers' transaction data, given Amazon's track record in the use of third party data in an anti-competitive manner.
