Amazon, which owns the high-end grocery chain, is developing a system to identify and keep tabs on the size and shape of customers’ hands, according to a report Tuesday in the New York Post. The company plans to link that data to customers’ accounts and payment information, according to the report. It plan to start rolling out the technology to its Whole Foods store by early next next year, where new scanners would be able to identify customers by their hands and authorize their purchases, the Post reported.
Amazon spokeswoman Amanda Felix declined to comment on the report.
Tech companies have been developing and deploying sensors that can detect individuals by certain characteristics unique to them or their bodies for years now. In some cases, that information is already used to authorize payments.
For example, older versions of Apple’s iPhones and iPads, for example, include fingerprint sensors, while newer ones include a sophisticated facial recognition system, and both systems can be used to approve payments. Other so-called biometric systems can recognize people by their irises or by their voices.
Such systems can be more secure and easier to use than passwords, because people don’t have to remember them. However security experts worry that a compromise of such data can be far more dangerous than having passwords stolen. That’s because unlike a password, a person’s face or hand generally can’t be changed.
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