Amazon Offers $10 to Its Customers to Collect Their Palm Print
Author : ROMAN3D,
TECHNOLOGY
Launch of Customer Palm Print Collection for $10
This is certainly news ! Amazon is offering $10 in promotional credit to encourage people to sign up for its palm print payment system. The American media outlet TechCrunch spotted the information and shared a screenshot. Firstly, this news, which initially appeared in a relatively confidential atmosphere, took on a political turn once reported in the media. Secondly, in this article, we will explore the possibilities offered by Amazon’s collection of palm prints for its future business model: what is the economic interest of such a practice ? Then, we will look at the reactions to this announcement, and finally, we will see what this concretely implies from a personal data perspective.
Palm Print Collection for Stores
Thus, the American e-commerce giant, which is among the most powerful groups on the planet, launched Amazon One in the fall of 2020 as a contactless means of authenticating purchases and for recognition at store entrances using a biometric device. Then, it should logically be a palm scanner. Moreover, with surface hygiene being a major concern during the pandemic, this decision was logical.
Since then, Amazon has expanded the system to 53 of its physical retail locations in places such as New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Texas. So, you can find the technology in Amazon Go convenience stores, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go Grocery, Amazon Books, Amazon 4-star stores, and Amazon Pop Ups.
As you’ve understood, this palm print recognition system is not yet available in Europe. This can be explained for three reasons. Firstly, the company is American. It has a habit of testing its innovations in its primary market: the United States. Then, and this is related to the first argument: Amazon does not have any physical retail locations in Europe. Thus, it is not yet useful for Jeff Bezos’s company to invest in palm recognition since the possibilities for development within stores are non-existent.
Palm Print on Amazon One
Firstly, shoppers can sign up for the Amazon One service by associating their credit card and mobile phone number with their digital signature. Secondly, the registration process is the only part that requires the user to touch the device. Thirdly, you just need to hover your hand over the scanner to enter a store and make your purchases. And, the promotion also requires you to link your Amazon account to your One ID.
Comprehensive Technology Development
The limited number of Amazon One locations means that the promotion will be used by a small circle of users. However, if Amazon succeeds, the system may be difficult to avoid in a contactless and cashless future. Discussions have already begun to equip other shopping centers with this cutting-edge technology.
It would be a technical feat for Amazon, and a new gigantic market opening up to it, if the company manages to implement its Amazon One service worldwide. From the conceptualization of this technology, the electronic development of the device, the creation of the digital space linked to this new data, and the deployment of multiple applications of customer fingerprints, it represents a considerable technological advance for Amazon, which currently has no competitors in the sector.
Not to mention that Amazon has the striking power of one of the largest companies on the planet. Moreover, Amazon is simultaneously a digital giant and a serious competitor in terms of large-scale distribution. It is therefore in a dominant position, overwhelmingly so, with this new product that will not cease to be talked about.
Nevertheless, for now, the company only wishes to equip its own stores with the Amazon One system. This is a strategic choice that slows down the deployment of this technology on a global scale, while giving its competitors a period to catch up technologically.
Contestations Over the Use of Customers’ Palm Prints
Of course, the idea of providing more data (especially biometric information) to Amazon may not sit well with some people. Moreover, there’s a good chance that a $10 purchase credit won’t sway opponents put off by horror stories surrounding Amazon’s facial recognition technology and Alexa’s voice recordings.
Public Denunciations
On the other hand, some activists have raised similar concerns about privacy and civil liberties regarding Amazon’s palm signature push.
Indeed, “Biometric data is one of the only ways that companies and governments can track us permanently,” Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a non-profit organization that generally opposes any surveillance project by companies and governments worldwide, told TechCrunch. Because, “You can change your name, you can change your Social Security number, but you can’t change your palm print.” he adds in his statement to the media.
“It’s horrible that Amazon is asking people to sell their body, but it’s even worse that people are doing it for such a low price”, Cahn added.
Amazon’s Official Response on Fingerprints
However, Amazon is aware of the privacy issues raised by the device. Thus, to alleviate these fears, the company has promised to secure palm data using encryption. But also data isolation and dedicated secure areas with restricted access controls . Indeed, for those who feared their data would be monetized, it has also committed to separating palm data from other Amazon customer data.
Furthermore, the company claims that an “anonymous” subset of palm data is used to improve its system. And, this data is “protected using multiple layers of security controls”. So, Amazon has also committed to deleting the data if you cancel your Amazon One identifier . And, if you haven’t interacted with one of its palm scanners in two years.
Besides that, we can also imagine that technologies like blockchain could allow the use of palm data solely for the purpose developed by Amazon. Namely, contactless payment in Amazon One stores.
Conclusion
So, Amazon has assured that it would not monetize its customers’ palm prints. It has also stated that the collection of digital signatures would be done only on a voluntary basis. Thus, there would be no collection without customers’ knowledge, or forced saving. From this point on, the economic prospects of such an activity are limited.
Consequently, we can imagine that contactless payment could be generalized in all Amazon physical stores, which would encourage customers to spend more. Because they no longer perform the act of taking a payment method out of their pocket (whether it’s their bank card, a checkbook, or cash).
Moreover, we can also imagine that Amazon will deploy this fingerprint payment on its e-commerce site in the medium term. Indeed, more and more computers and phones are using palm recognition for unlocking. Even if, currently, this technology is often perceived as a gadget, new uses such as palm payment could change the game in the coming years.
However, the only downside is that the American company will have to comply with all state regulations. This will be particularly the case in the European Union, its second largest market after the United States. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for example, provides for a right to consult all personal data.
