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Amazon’s palm-reading identification technology may be coming to a Whole Foods near you, if you live in California. This touchless system requires you to hold your palm over a scanning device. Once it authenticates your identity, it allows you to check in at secure locations, charge a payment to a credit card, and do other identity-requiring actions. It’s similar to current systems that rely on using your face or fingerprint, except there’s no smartphone involved. It was first launched in 2020, and now Amazon is looking to expand it to dozens of stores across the Golden State.
To get started with the system, which is called Amazon One, you’ll need to scan your palm at an Amazon kiosk. These are located at stores that currently use the system. The scan is then encrypted and uploaded to Amazon’s servers, according to Ars Technica. Amazon originally rolled it out at its cashier-less Amazon Go stores as well as its now-defunct brick-and-mortar bookstores. It’s also using it at its clothing store in Los Angeles. The technology was previously only in place at several Whole Foods locations in CA, but now the company is expanding its presence.
Amazon says scanning your palm is the ideal way to verify your identity. This is because it is comprised of several layers of identifying markers. It’s also unique to you and rarely changes over time. How that differs from a fingerprint, or your face, is unclear. Amazon also boasts of the touchless aspect of the scan, but that’s no different from holding your smartphone above a scanner as we can do currently.
Despite the benefits, Amazon has had some issues getting third parties to adopt its system. Since it can be used to verify your identity, it doesn’t need to be explicitly for payments. It can also be used to get into secure locations, such as office buildings or live events. However, the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado announced in March of this year it would discontinue the use of the technology after an artist-led protest. The protest was joined by 30 advocacy groups, which were weary of how Amazon might handle people’s data.
Rock stars and privacy advocates aren’t the only ones who are concerned. Last year a bipartisan group of three Senators sought more clarity from Amazon after it was revealed the company was offering $10 to people to scan their palms. One of the sticking points for lawmakers was that Amazon stores its biometric data in the cloud. Both Samsung and Apple devices use biometric technology but store that info on the device for security reasons. Amazon says security is its highest priority, however. To that end, it says the cloud where the data is stored is highly-secure and “custom-built” for biometrics. It also says you can delete your data from the system at any Amazon One kiosk, or via a web portal.
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