Soon you will be able to make an online purchase by simply winking at your phone!
Amazon.com has filed a patent for a technology that would analyze a user’s face and approve their online purchases.
“While many conventional approaches rely on password entry for user authentication, these passwords can be stolen or discovered by other persons who can impersonate the user for any of a variety of tasks,” the patent application reads.
It seems like a perfect solution to identity theft because no one can steal a person’s face. But because someone could try to fool the system by holding up a photo instead of a real face, Amazon’s patent takes two photos to confirm a user’s identity.
The first self-portrait establishes the user’s identity, and the second selfie works to counter false duplicates.
And in the second step, the phone or computer prompts “the user to perform certain actions, motions, or gestures, such as to smile, blink, or tilt his or her head,” in order to verify that a living, physical person is unlocking the Amazon account.
Aaaah Genius!
It’s the perfect counter to the research which shows that 1 in 5 people use the same password for everything. *raises hand. guilty as charged*
Amazon’s patent is the latest in a slate of innovative and inventive work-arounds from large multi-national brands.
MasterCard already announced plans to accept selfies and fingerprints instead of account passwords in the UK and Microsoft Windows 10 and Android smartphones both already allow users to unlock their phones by looking at the camera.
Fingerprint scanners are used by Smart wallet technology found with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay.
h/t USA Today
