The question facing Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy is how the company plans to use data collected from newly installed handheld scanners in some of the company’s retail stores.
A group of three U.S. Senators-Amy Klobuchar (Democratic-Minnesota), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Jon Osoff (Democratic-Georgia State)-Letter to Jassy asking a series of questions about his new Amazon One. The program encourages people to make contactless payments through hand scanning in their physical stores (such as Whole Foods).
Specifically, the senators expressed concern about Amazon’s own history of user data.
The senators wrote in their August 12 letter: “Amazon’s expansion of biometric data collection through Amazon One has raised serious questions about Amazon’s plans for these data and its respect for user privacy, including how Amazon will This data is used for advertising and tracking purposes.” “The evidence that Amazon shares voice data with third-party contractors and Amazon’s allegations of violating the biometric privacy law have exacerbated our concerns about user privacy.”
In a blog post published when introducing the technology, an Amazon official pointed out that the company understands data privacy issues, but the company does not need to worry about using the technology.
“We attach great importance to data security and privacy, and any sensitive data is handled in accordance with our long-term policy. With this in mind, we design Amazon One to be highly secure,” Dilip Kumar, vice president of Amazon’s physical retail and technology, on September 29 Wrote in an article. Published on the company’s blog“For example, Amazon One devices are protected by multiple security controls, and palm images are never stored on Amazon One devices.”
However, the group of three senators does not seem to believe Kumar’s disclaimer.
They wrote in the letter: “Compared with Apple’s Face ID and Touch ID or Samsung Pass and other biometric systems, these systems store biometric information on the user’s device. According to reports, Amazon One uploads biometric information to The cloud brings unique security risks.”
Currently, Amazon provides $10 in promotional points to people who register their bank accounts in the program and link them to their Amazon accounts.
The letter raised a series of questions, including:
- Does Amazon plan to expand Amazon One to other Whole Foods, Amazon Go and other Amazon store locations, and if so, what is the timeline?
- How many third-party customers does Amazon sell (or license) Amazon One? What privacy protection measures do these third parties and their customers have?
- How many users have registered for Amazon One?
An Amazon spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.