biometrics
Amazon’s palm-scanning payment tech will now be able to verify ages, too
Amazon One, the retailer’s palm-scanning payment technology, is now gaining new functionality with the addition of age verification services. The company announced today that customers using Ama
Amazon’s palm-reading payment tech is coming to Panera Bread
Panera will now become the first restaurant to deploy Amazon's palm reading payment and loyalty system, known as Amazon One.
With $7M raised, Keyo launches a biometric palm verification network
Maybe you’ve heard of Keyo. Perhaps you saw the initial round of press the firm did in 2017 — roughly two years after its founding. Or maybe you saw it pop back in 2020, riding the wave of news ar
UK watchdog warns against AI for emotional analysis, dubs ‘immature’ biometrics a bias risk
The U.K.’s privacy watchdog has warned against use of so-called “emotion analysis” technologies for anything more serious than kids’ party games, saying there’s a discrim
TikTok claims it’s not collecting US users’ biometric data, despite what privacy policy says
Last year, TikTok quietly updated its privacy policy to allow the app to collect biometric data on U.S. users, including “faceprints and voiceprints” — a concerning change that the c
UK urgently needs new laws on use of biometrics, warns review
An independent review of UK legislation has concluded the country urgently needs new laws to govern the use of biometric technologies and called for the government to come forward with primary legisla
India’s farmers exposed by new Aadhaar data leak
A security researcher said an Indian government website was exposing the Aadhaar numbers of India’s farmers, potentially amounting to millions of people. Atul Nair told TechCrunch that he found
Biofire aims to reduce tragic accidents with a gun only its owner can use
The last thing we need in this world is more guns. But we’re getting them whether we like it or not, so wouldn’t it be nice if those guns had safety mechanisms like our phones, making them
OwnID raises $6M to replace passwords with smartphone-based biometrics
The founders of OwnID, Dor Shany and Rooly Eliezerov, previously founded Gigya, a startup that wanted to make it easier to help identify customers. They sold that startup to SAP for $350 million in 20
The IRS won’t make you verify your identity with facial recognition after all
The IRS announced plans Monday to back away from a third-party facial recognition system that collects biometric data from U.S. taxpayers who want to log in to the agency’s online portal. The IR
The road to disastrous biometric data collection is paved with good intentions
The time to stop the slide by regulating and eliminating unnecessary biometric data collection, particularly when for-profit corporations are involved, is now.
iProov snaps up $70M for its facial verification technology, already in use by Homeland Security, the NHS and others
Biometrics, and specifically facial recognition, have seen a surge of usage in the last several years, first as a tool to help organizations verify identities digitally against rising waves of fraud a
Best of TechCrunch 2021
We asked our staff to vote on their favorite stories of the year, added evergreen content and our top TC+ articles for a well-rounded 2021 list. Enjoy!
Clearview AI told it broke Australia’s privacy law, ordered to delete data
After Canada, now Australia has found that controversial facial recognition company, Clearview AI, broke national privacy laws when it covertly collected citizens’ facial biometrics and incorpor
Delta Air Lines partners with TSA PreCheck to launch biometrics-based bag drops
Delta Air Lines, in partnership with TSA PreCheck, today announced an expansion of how it uses biometrics to let passengers drop their bags, go through security and board their plane by simply showing
TikTok dodges questions about biometric data collection in Senate hearing
In its first-ever Congressional hearing, TikTok successfully dodged questions about what it plans to do with the biometric data its privacy policy permits it to collect on the app’s U.S. users.
European Parliament backs ban on remote biometric surveillance
The European Parliament has voted to back a total ban on biometric mass surveillance. AI-powered remote surveillance technologies such as facial recognition have huge implications for fundamental righ
Biden’s new FTC nominee is a digital privacy advocate critical of Big Tech
President Biden made his latest nomination to the Federal Trade Commission this week, tapping digital privacy expert Alvaro Bedoya to join the agency as it takes a hard look at the tech industry. Bedo
Lawmakers ask Amazon what it plans to do with palm print biometric data
A group of senators sent new Amazon CEO Andy Jassy a letter Friday pressing the company for more information about how it scans and stores customer palm prints for use in some of its retail stores. Th
Amazon will pay you $10 in credit for your palm print biometrics
How much is your palm print worth? If you ask Amazon, it’s about $10 in promotional credit if you enroll your palm prints in its checkout-free stores and link it to your Amazon account. Last yea