Privacy experts warn the public against “digital enslavement” as Amazon launches new app for pay-by-palm services

In a video published on May 7, Reclaim the Net revealed that big corporations like JPMorgan Chase, Amazon, Microsoft and Google are actively promoting and normalizing the use of biometric data, particularly facial and palm recognition, in payment transactions.

These companies claim that biometric payment systems offer unparalleled convenience and efficiency compared to traditional payment methods. Moreover, they also claim these could help reduce fraud and improve financial security.

This advocacy has turned cashless payments into a growing trend, with more and more people using them in recent years.

For instance, in 2023, coffee shop chain Starbucks teamed up with Amazon to launch the Amazon One system in selected stores in Edmonds, Washington State. The pilot of the Amazon One system will serve as a bellwether to determine whether older people will embrace the new technology. In 2018, the coffee shop chain also opened a cashless pilot store in the lobby of a Seattle-based office building to “evaluate customer response and garner employee feedback.”

Starbucks also tried Amazon Go, a checkout-free shopping experience, at concept stores in New York City for the same reason.

Still, privacy experts warn the public that biometric data is uniquely identifiable and immutable. Once captured, the data could be exploited beyond payment verification, such as by tracking individuals, identifying them in public spaces and profiling them for marketing purposes.

Head over to PrivacyWatch.news for more stories about the risks of biometric payment methods.