Passwords are for cavemen, the new “passwords” shall be a simple selfie. Amazon filed a patent application this month, spotted by Re/Code, for a system that would allow users to take a selfie or video of themselves to complete a transaction.
This technology would confirm if the person completing the transaction is “a living human being” by using facial recognition technology, according to the patent application. They could also be prompted to perform an action, such as smiling, blinking or tilting their head a certain way to add an extra level of security and ensure the system isn’t being duped by someone holding up a photo of a user.
Amazon’s application says that passwords in smartphones, tablets etc are not too “friendly-looking” considering that sometimes you might want to turn around to type down your password when you are among friends, which, can result in a really awkward situation.
The result, according to Amazon’s application, is that users often store their passwords on their devices or choose short and simple passwords, two workers of the company said that passwords can be easily hacked by any user or a virus-type application.
An Amazon representative did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. Since the information is in a patent application, it’s probably going to be a while before any of this technology could potentially be implemented on the site. However, it could be one of the biggest changes to the way we shop since Amazon pioneered one-click ordering.
Push-to-buy Dash buttons and now Selfie-to-buy
Amazon introduced another clever way to pay last year with its push-to-buy Dash buttons, allowing shoppers to hit a physical button to reorder common household products, ranging from detergent to dog food.
Now with a selfie you’ll be able to make quick purchases without having to hide yourself from others, or being paranoid that you could have forgotten your password. With this new technology that Amazon is still working on, you’ll just take a picture of yourself and that’s it! Your face will be you password, the one that will always remain there and cannot be forgotten.
Source: ABC News