In yesterday’s article about Amazon One’s palm scanning identification system, I mused about the possibility of zipping through the airport with no documents, no phone, just my palm. That’s not going to happen anytime soon, but Amazon is now pushing their Amazon One technology beyond retail checkout to the security business.
Amazon One technology is now being applied to business security.
In a significant shift towards organizational security, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced Amazon One Enterprise. They hope to use their palm-based identity service to change how organizations manage access to both physical and digital assets.
A New Approach to Authentication
Traditional authentication methods, such as badges, fobs, PINs, and passwords, have long been the backbone of organizational security. However, these methods have inherent vulnerabilities - they can be lost, stolen, or easily compromised. Amazon One Enterprise seeks to address these security gaps by introducing a biometric solution that is not only more secure but much more convenient.
The Technology Behind Amazon One Enterprise
Amazon One Enterprise employs advanced palm and vein imagery for biometric matching, claiming an impressive 99.9999% accuracy rate. They say this level of precision is unprecedented in the realm of biometric security and that it provides a robust defense against impersonation and unauthorized access.
Efficiency and User Experience
One of the key advantages of Amazon One Enterprise is its operational efficiency. By eliminating the need for traditional badges, passwords, PINs, and physical devices it reduces the time and effort associated with their management. The system offers a fast, convenient, no-touch experience for users.
As I detailed yesterday, my own experience has shown Amazon One to be notably faster than either iris scanning or facial recognition systems. It offers the fastest, most frictionless retail checkout experience that I’ve encountered. (Even stores with “Just Walk Out” technology, another Amazon innovation, require authentication at the point of entry.
Security and Privacy
Amazon One Enterprise encrypts palm images and user credentials, increasing the safety of personal data. In addition, using multi-layered palm data minimizes the chance of privacy violations because, unlike faces, palms can’t be scanned from a distance or without the user’s knowledge.
User privacy and organizational security are intertwined. In 2017, Japanese researchers extracted fingerprint data from random photos of people who happened to have their fingers facing the camera. While this development spawned no major exploits, increasingly high resolution smartphone cameras might raise the concern level. And, of course, facial recognition data can be obtained from photos and videos. Because Amazon One not only scans the palm but looks below the surface at blood vessels, impersonation by capturing an image of a palm is highly improbable. And, even if palm data was somehow compromised, the privacy implications would be minimal.
Early Adopters and Market Response
Several organizations, including Boon Edam, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Paznic, and KONE, have already begun implementing Amazon One Enterprise.
Amazon One Enterprise, currently available for preview in the U.S., may herald the beginning of a new era in biometric security. As organizations increasingly recognize the limitations of traditional authentication methods, a shift towards biometrics is inevitable. With its speed and privacy advantages, Amazon One stands to benefit.
