CREEPY! Mastercard Reportedly Introduced Face Scan Payment System

Get back your netMastercard announced the launch of the system in an effort to speed up checkouts and enhance user experience.

“Once enrolled, there is no need to slow down the checkout queue searching through their pockets or bag,” Mastercard said according to Get back your net. “Consumers can simply check the bill and smile into a camera or wave their hand over a reader to pay.”

“[T]The enrollment process usually takes no more than 5 minutes. There is no requirement for an issuer to store the biometric data and no fingerprints are stored in the cloud after enrollment,” Mastercard said on its website. 

While some people believe biometric payment systems are more efficient and better for users, experts caution that it is not worth the sacrifice of privacy in return for the product.

“Mastercard themselves have recognized the data and security concerns that come with the use of biometrics,” Suzie Miles, a partner at a tech law firm, told The GuardianAbout the payment system. “A password can be changed, your smile and wave can not. If biometric data is hacked then the risk of fraudulent activity could be considerably higher than current payment methods.”

Payment systems that collected and stored user data have reportedly tried to encrypt the data, but Miles said the evolution of the programs made it “harder” to protect user privacy.

“While it seems Mastercard have taken steps to protect and encrypt this data, as biometric payments become more commonplace the use of such data is likely to evolve and it will inevitably become harder to protect individuals’ rights to privacy,” Miles said according to The Guardian.

The company said that no fingerprints were “stored in the cloud after enrollment.”

NewsBusters reported that Google launched its “updated” system earlier in the month. “The Google Pay app will be a companion app to the Wallet,” Arnold Goldberg, vice president and general manager of payments at Google, told Tech Crunch. “Think of [the Google Pay app] as this higher value app that will be a place for you to make payments and manage money, whereas the wallet will really be this container for you to store your payment assets and your non-payment assets.”

NewsBustersAlso, Google reported that it has a radar system for detecting body movements.

Google previously utilized radar to detect body movements. This includes the Soli sensor and Google Pixel 4, as well as Nest Hub’s smart display. WIRED stated that Nest Hub was able to detect the movements and breathing patterns as well of the sleeping person. ‘The same Soli sensor is being used in this new round of research, but instead of using the sensor input to directly control a computer, ATAP is instead using the sensor data to enable computers to recognize our everyday movements and make new kinds of choices.’

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