- Amazon is rolling out a version of its palm scanning technology for businesses.
- The company offers the service as a way for employees to swipe into an office or access confidential data.
- The Amazon One payment system is used in Amazon grocery stores.
Amazon is expanding its hand-scanning technology beyond grocery stores, introducing a version designed for the business world.
Amazon One Enterprise packages the company’s Palm-based payment system into an authentication tool that allows company employees to enter an office with a wave of their hand or access sensitive information such as financial data or human resources records.
Companies that have already signed up for the biometric technology include IHG Hotels and Resorts, turnstile manufacturer Boon Edam and Kone, an escalator and elevator provider. Amazon hasn’t announced pricing for the service, which is available in preview in the U.S. starting Monday.
Amazon touts the service as a cheaper and more secure solution for businesses compared to traditional security and authentication tools such as fobs, badges or passwords.
“Companies value the privacy and convenience of their users being able to access physical locations and software resources with just a wave of their hand,” Dilip Kumar, a vice president in charge of Amazon Web Services Applications, said in a statement.
Amazon introduced its biometric payment system in 2020. The technology was originally intended to allow shoppers to pay for purchases with the swipe of their hand. It was used in Whole Foods grocery stores, some Go convenience stores and several Fresh supermarkets. Sports and entertainment venues have also adopted the technology, as have some Panera Bread restaurants and a handful of Starbucks locations.
Advocacy groups have criticized the service over privacy and security concerns, arguing that it leads to increased surveillance. According to Amazon, palm recognition is more private than other biometric systems “because you cannot determine a person’s identity from an image of their palm.” The company also claims that it does not collect purchase data from scans collected from non-Amazon stores .
By redesigning Amazon One for business, the company is following a plan it has adopted elsewhere. Earlier this month, Amazon introduced Astro for Business, a version of its household robot that the company uses as a roving security guard for businesses.
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