Amazon Rolls Out Palm Payment Sign-Up App, But Security Experts Are Worried

Amazon launched a sign-up app for its palm payment service called Amazon One on March 28. Users can now sign up for Amazon One without needing to go to a physical location. Also, they’ll need to take photos of their palm for enrollment.

Amazon One is used in over 100 Whole Foods, some Amazon Go and Fresh stores, Panera Bread, sports stadiums, entertainment spots, convenience stores, and airports with Hudson and CREWS. It’s also at Coors Field for age checks.

The company states that the Amazon One palm recognition system is designed to prevent impersonation by analyzing unique aspects such as creases, friction ridges, and vein patterns. The system incorporates liveness detection technology, effectively distinguishing between actual human palms and artificial replicas.

This claim is supported by tests where Amazon One successfully rejected 1,000 silicone and 3D-printed palm models, demonstrating its robust security measures. Also, the images of palms and vein patterns are encrypted before being sent to a highly secure Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.

After successful verification, Amazon One creates a palm signature, verified by Amazon One scanners. Users can use this signature for various purposes, including retail payments, age verification, entry, and loyalty rewards at stores, stadiums, airports, and fitness centers.

In a blog post, Amazon mentioned that palm identification is significantly more accurate than scanning both irises. The company also stated that there hasn’t been a single case where it mistakenly identified someone — even after millions of uses.

Yet, some experts have privacy concerns. Albert Cahn, the founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, expressed doubts to Bloomberg about the balance between the convenience of biometric services and the amount of personal data they collect. He questioned why it’s better to give private companies government IDs and biometric data when customers could just use their physical IDs for transactions.

Evan Greer, a director at the digital privacy group Fight for the Future, told CNBC that people should be cautious about giving their data to private companies. He highlighted tech companies’ poor history of protecting personal information.

Amazon’s new Amazon One app may offer a convenient way to use palm recognition for payments and access, but it raises privacy concerns. The company’s past issues, including a $30 million settlement over privacy violations, raise several questions about the protection of user data. This situation highlights the importance of strong privacy measures and transparency as technology becomes more embedded in our daily lives.