biometrics
Latest
Amazon is bringing its palm-based payments to all Whole Foods Market stores
Amazon One palm recognition is coming to all Whole Foods Market stores by the end of the year.
You can now use Amazon’s palm-reading tech to buy alcohol
Amazon’s palm payment technology is moving from the world of convenience food to a booze-soaked baseball field. The company just announced that the Amazon One identification system is being implemented at Denver’s Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball franchise, allowing customers to buy beer and hard alcohol with their palms.
WhatsApp's new privacy feature locks sensitive chats and hides them from notifications
WhatsApp just announced a new feature called “Chat Lock” that should allow users to keep certain conversations more private. It works by allowing you to place conversations in locked folders that are only accessible via biometrics or a current password.
Biometric devices sold on eBay reportedly contained sensitive US military data
German researchers who purchased biometric capture devices on eBay found their memory cards stored a US military database containing sensitive data.
Apple's mixed reality headset reportedly uses iris scanning for payments and sign-ins
Apple's mixed reality headset is rumored to use iris scanning for payments, and might beat Meta's Quest Pro in key areas.
Mastercard's pay-with-a-smile test is bound to rile privacy advocates (updated)
Mastercard wants to create a standard that lets you pay in stores by smiling or waving — but will shoppers be comfortable?
Artists, activists demand concert venues drop Amazon's palm-scanning tech
Artists and rights groups, including Tom Morello, are calling on Red Rocks and other music venues to drop Amazon's palm recognition tech.
Senators ask Amazon how it will use palm print data from its stores (updated)
Senators have asked Amazon's CEO how the company will use palm print data from One — they're concerned it might abuse the data.
Amazon is offering $10 in credit for your palm print
Amazon is offering $10 in credit to entice people to enroll on to its palm print payments system.
Security researchers fool Microsoft's Windows Hello authentication system
Researchers from the security firm CyberArk managed to fool Windows' Hello facial recognition system using images of the computer owner's face.
Amazon's palm-reading payment tech is now available in New York City
Amazon One palm payments are now available in New York City — if only through one store for now.
WhatsApp now requires biometric authentication for PC and web access
You’ll now have to confirm your identity using your biometric information to link a WhatsApp account to the PC or the web. The Facebook—owned company has added a layer of protection to its apps in order to limit the chances of somebody else linking to your account without your knowledge or permission. As long as the phone you’re using has face or fingerprint unlock switched on, WhatsApp will ask you to go through the authentication process when you link your account to the service’s desktop app or web version.
Golf fans can see PGA Tour players’ heart rates thanks to new wearable partnership
The PGA Tour will use Whoop fitness straps to show the heart rates and other biometric data of players “during defining moments throughout the season,” it announced.
Civil rights groups demand CBP stops facial recognition expansion at airports
The ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation and others objected to a proposed rule change.
Pixel 4 adds an 'eyes open' check for using face unlock
It took several months, but you can finally enable face unlock on your Pixel 4 without worrying that someone will access your phone while you’re sleeping. Google has rolled out an April security update that adds the promised “require eyes to be open” optional setting.
Facebook and Venmo demand Clearview AI stops scraping their data
Following Google and Twitter, Facebook has become the latest company to take legal action against controversial facial recognition startup Clearview AI. According to Buzzfeed News, the company sent a cease-and-desist letter to Clearview sometime this week, demanding that it stop taking data from Facebook and Instagram. "Scraping people's information violates our policies, which is why we've demanded that Clearview stop accessing or using information from Facebook or Instagram," a spokesperson for the company told Buzzfeed News.
Kenya halts biometric ID scheme over discrimination fears
Kenya introduced a sweeping national biometric identity program last year, with the view to collecting personal and biometric data -- such as fingerprints and facial photographs -- from its 50 million-strong population. Now, however, the program has been temporarily suspended by the country's high court, which has cited concerns about the way the data may be used.
JDI's ultrathin biometric sensor is built for 'high security' authentication
Japan Display, the company known for cramming massive screen resolutions into tiny spaces, has created the world's first ultrathin image sensor that measures fingerprints, veins and pulse waves. At 15 micrometers thick the sensor is as thin as paper and features both high-speed readout and high-resolution imaging capabilities.
Amazon may offer hand recognition payments to other stores
Amazon's rumored hand recognition payment tech might be useful beyond paying for produce at Whole Foods. Wall Street Journal sources say the company is developing hand-based checkout terminals that it would sell to "coffee shops, fast-food restaurants" and other stores that tend to have repeat customers, not just Whole Foods. It's also clearer as to how the technology might work. The system would reportedly start by linking your payment card to your hand, asking you to insert your old-school plastic and scan your hand before you could pay using your hand alone.
Samsung's fix for Galaxy S10 fingerprint scanning will roll out soon
Samsung is acting on its promise to fix its fingerprint reader security flaw. The tech firm is alerting Galaxy S10, S10+, Note 10 and Note 10+ owners that it'll send a notification for the patch "within 24 hours" (clearly less time than that as you read this) for anyone who has registered a fingerprint on their device. You'll have a fix well before the weekend. Samsung is also asking anyone who has used the phone with a screen protector to delete and re-register their prints without the protector installed, since it might include "incorrect" info.
