DeepSummary
Shayna Roth describes her experience encountering Amazon's new palm scanning technology called Amazon One while shopping at Whole Foods. She discusses the process of signing up, which involves consenting to Amazon collecting and storing biometric data from palm prints. Roth ultimately decides not to sign up due to privacy concerns.
Emily Moore, a technology and food journalist, provides context on Amazon One and how it fits into Amazon's broader suite of biometric payment and authentication services. She explains the potential risks of having biometric data stored in the cloud, such as identity theft or the data being exploited if hacked.
Moore and Roth debate the trade-offs between convenience and privacy when it comes to technologies like Amazon One. They discuss the implications of a cashless, cardless society relying solely on biometrics for payments and access, which could exacerbate issues of accessibility and inequality.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Amazon's new Amazon One palm scanning payment system raises significant privacy concerns around the collection, storage and potential exploitation of biometric data.
- Increased reliance on biometric payment systems could exacerbate accessibility issues for underserved communities without reliable internet/smartphone access.
- Consumers may not fully grasp the long-term privacy implications of providing companies like Amazon with biometric data that is irrevocably tied to their identity.
- First-hand accounts reflect public apprehension towards technologies like Amazon One that require sacrificing biometric data for convenience.
- Technologies like Amazon One represent company initiatives rather than innovations driven by consumer demand, according to the expert perspective.
- The rush to implement biometric payment systems is outpacing regulation around data privacy and protection of consumer rights.
- Debate continues around whether the touted convenience benefits of biometric tech outweigh the intrusion on privacy and data security risks.
- A future cashless, cardless society based on biometrics could profoundly impact in-person commerce and interactions.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “If you imagine even just a few years ago, maybe a few decades ago, how much more often we were using cash over cards. And compare that to today where sometimes you'll show up to a coffee shop or a smaller vendor and they may say cash is not accepted. That's not technically legal, but it is done, and it's sometimes tolerated with businesses that don't create the infrastructure to accept cash as legal tender.“ by Emily Moore
- “It's difficult for an everyday person who doesn't spend as much time as we do, necessarily considering the implications of sharing biometric data, especially that it's absolutely irrevocable to your person. And I don't think that we have grasped all the ways that down the line that this technology can be abused.“ by Emily Moore
- “I didn't sign up and the employee at the store was skeptical too. I ended up not doing it because I was looking through it and I was reading all of it and I'm like, yeah, I'm a little bit concerned about this.“ by Shayna Roth
- “I don't think anyone asked for Amazon one, to be blunt.“ by Emily Moore
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Episode Information
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Slate Podcasts
6/21/24