Amazon One Palm Scanning Payment Technology Arrives at Austin Whole Foods Stores

In Austin, Texas, Whole Foods shoppers can now pay using their palm.

“The pay-by-palm service is enabled by the Amazon One devices, which link a user’s palm signature to their debit or credit card,” Reclaim the Net reports.

Amazon palm scanning payments arrive in Austin, Texashttps://t.co/3rspkC3qVY

— Reclaim The Net (@ReclaimTheNetHQ) April 21, 2022

From Reclaim the Net:

“Amazon One is all about making everyday activities, like paying at a store, easier and more convenient for customers,” an Amazon representative said. “We built Amazon One to offer a quick, reliable, and secure way for people to identify themselves or authorize a transaction while moving seamlessly through their day.”

Paying using the pay-by-palm device takes about a second. While it is convenient, the technology raises privacy concerns.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jon Ossof (D-GA), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) sent a letter to Amazon questioning the company’s data collection through Amazon One.

“Amazon’s expansion of biometric data collection through Amazon One raises serious questions about Amazon’s plans for this data and its respect for user privacy, including about how Amazon may use the data for advertising and tracking purposes,” they wrote.

While unveiling the technology in 2020, Amazon said: “Amazon One device is protected by multiple security controls.”

“The images are encrypted and sent to a highly secure area we custom-built for Amazon One in the cloud where we create your palm signature.”

Austin, Texas is the second city where Amazon One is available.

Seattle, Washington first installed the Amazon One technology at nine Whole Foods stores.

Reclaim the Net noted about the dystopian biometric technology in 2020:

Amazon is introducing a payment system in which customers can pay by simply scanning their palm over a device. Named “Amazon One,” this new biometric technology is supposed to help customers visiting retail outlets and brick and mortar stores conveniently pay when they exit the store by simply scanning their palm.

However, the technology means that Amazon will keep a copy of the customer’s handprint on its centralized servers.

Stores with this technology would have to first scan their users’ palm and gather their payment info – that’s when palm scanning-based payments can be accepted. As of now, this new system is going to be implemented in Amazon’s Go cashier-less convenience stores across Seattle, Washington from Tuesday. Soon, this will be implemented across other Amazon stores as well.

WATCH: