The e-commerce giant is making its Amazon One service more accessible. New users can now register directly from their smartphone.
Contactless payment is becoming more and more widespread. Not only are almost all bank cards and payment terminals in France compatible with the technology, but it is also proving to be quite efficient and ever more useful.
So, now that using Google Wallet and Apple Pay no longer makes anyone look like an alien in the eyes of onlookers (or almost), would you be ready to move up a gear? No, we’re not talking about using a connected ring, but rather showing the palms of our hands.
An application to take a step forward
Amazon started using its palm recognition system a few years ago. First intended for its physical stores, then for the stores of the American supermarket chain Whole Foods, the technology is gradually making its way into other types of establishments. In offices, stadiums or hotels, the palm of the hand allows you to identify yourself, pay or use a loyalty program with disconcerting ease, provided you do not wear gloves… or have a plaster.
But now, after eight million uses and 80% of customers who regularly reuse the system, it is time for Amazon One to move up a gear. The next step for the American company is to make it easier for new users to register by allowing them to register the palms of their hands from their living room.
To do this, they now have access to a mobile application, on Android and iOS, of the same name as the service. It uses their smartphone’s main camera to take a picture of their palms and the underlying vein structures to make a ” unique digital and vector representation “. From there, Amazon uses generative AI to match this representation with infrared images captured by compatible devices.
According to the company, its system has an accuracy of 99.999%, which is a very good result considering the context.
A service that may have difficulty reaching Europe
Please note, however, that it is not possible to download Amazon One from us, as the service is not yet deployed outside the United States. So it’s a safe bet that you won’t see one of its terminals in your neighborhood for a while. Especially since, if the beginnings of the service are still timid across the Atlantic, it risks having some difficulty convincing European regulators, on the strength of a Digital Services Act (DSA) which recently came into force.
Indeed, Amazon is not the best student when it comes to data protection, and its palm recognition service could be the line not to cross in certain territories. However, the company wishes to reassure and specifies that the images recorded by its new application will remain protected and encrypted on its AWS cloud infrastructure. Furthermore, none of this information will be stored on users’ smartphones. Not sure, however, that this will be enough to convince many people on the Old Continent.
Source : Amazon
0