New Invasive Amazon Tech Can Track Your Trip to Grocery Store and Back

(Newsbusters) – Amazon recently opened its first full-size Amazon Fresh grocery store with both “Just Walk Out” technology and checkout options. Just Walk Outtechnology can track every move of shoppers in the store and allows customers to “just walk out” instead of having to wait in checkout lines. While consumers may find the new technology convenient, Amazon uses cameras and artificial intelligence to watch consumer shopping habits.

A recent Amazon blog explained that “Just Walk Out technology is made possible by a combination of computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning.” Amazon bragged that its video-powered technology can determine what people buy: “Anything [customers] take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart, and anything they put back on the shelf comes out of their virtual cart.”

Customers set up the virtual cart when they walk into the store. They allegedly “can scan the QR code in their Amazon app, use Amazon One to scan their palm, or insert a credit or debit card linked to their Amazon account,” Amazon explained. Customers are later charged when they leave.

The most concerning of the three payment methods is the Amazon Onebiometric scan. “Amazon One’s customized hardware captures the minute characteristics of your palm – both surface-area details like lines and ridges as well as subcutaneous features such as vein patterns – to create your palm signature,” the company explained. Amazon introduced the payment method last fall in Amazon Go and Amazon Books stores. It is reportedly set to hit Whole Foods Market stores soon, according to The Verge. Read Full Article >