By: Rodney Morris
This week, Alibaba unveiled technology that allows people to make payments simply by smiling at their phones. Using facial recognition, the new Alipay system will authorize payments by comparing the image seen by a smartphone's camera to a pre-known picture of the person making the payment.
Such a system obviously improves convenience, reducing the need for people to remember and use passwords and is part of a smartphone-biometrics trend that began with the inclusion of fingerprint readers on the iPhone to allow for easy unlocking of the device.
Facial recognition is no exception.
While it is unclear as of yet exactly how Alipay's authentication works, in general, facial recognition technology relies on the fact that the user authenticating is actually presenting his or her face and not an image of someone else's. At the entrance to a building, for example, a guard and security cameras would see if someone were holding up a picture rather than approaching a scanner in person.
Allowing facial recognition to be used to authorize payments from smartphones clearly poses risks; if a criminal were to gain access to someone's phone, either by stealing it or finding it after it is lost, the odds are pretty good that he or she could obtain a high resolution image of the user either directly from the phone, or by doing a search online with the user's information obtainable from the phone. This is especially true if the phone were not locked at the time, although many people's phones contain enough information on the lock screen to allow people to find their images online. Could such images be used to illegally authorize payments?
While biometrics are clearly here to stay, it is important to understand the potential risks before using them.
Another great article by Rodney Morris . I love the technological advances that world is coming to,for making payment easy. Paying cash is considered a thing of the past with all these new innovated ways to pay with your mobile device. Facial recognition with a smile is not a good way to pay. With all the new technology going on it is hard not to caught in the HYPE. There are many threats associated with paying through your phone. the main threat is identity theft if one loses their phone they are in huge risks of trouble. Losing your phone in this era is equivalent to losing your social security card. Your phone have vital data such as address birthday, bank statements and etc. I was a victim of identity theft it is a hard long process to go through. So one must be very careful on how they pay for products online pay-pal is a good choice.
ReplyDeleteI can't agree with you more Rasheed, another great article by Rodney Morris. I actually use facial recognition on my cell phone. I don't know about using that technology for transactions, but it would definitely be useful for security measures that happen less frequently like visiting an ATM. There are too many variables involved with a simple facial gesture for your phone. If a someone favors another, for example, then it would cause problems with the software. The reason it is a great idea is because it will record the person making the transaction regardless. I don't believe that would stop all of fraud activity however. Could this technology precisely measure the facial features of each user? That will be its' ultimate test.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Rasheed as well. The idea of the simplicity of being able to pay through your mobile device is great. But the security of identity theft is very prevalent. With technological abilities increasing, hackers are even more able to access different devices and take whatever information they please. Until it seems that something is impenetrable to those attacks I don't believe that this would be the best idea and each user must proceed with caution.
ReplyDeleteThe common concern is security. People hate having too much information saved in any type of electronic device. Every company is going to have a hard time capturing consumer trust. People hate to have companies like apple knowing their location i think it would be difficult for producers to convince consumers to save their faces
ReplyDeleteAs stated above I agree with Rasheed, the use of cash is seen as a relic of past times with all these new created ways to deal with pay with your phone. Facial recognition with a smile is not a better than average way to deal with pay. With all the new development going on it is hard to see why this has been happening. There are various threats joined with paying through your phone. The essential concern is security, people contempt having an overabundance of information saved in any kind of electronic device. If an individual were to lose their device someone would have all their information.
ReplyDeleteProtection is whats important. People scorn having a considerable measure of information saved in any kind of electronic contraption. Every association is going to have some real obstacles getting customer trust.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how far our technology has come and how it is continuously growing. I do believe that this is a great idea and it is very convenient, however I do believe that this is too advanced for right now. I believe with the high level of fraud going on that we should stick to finger prints for right now until we are able to maintain more control over the level of fraud.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is great that everyday we are encountering many technological advancements, it is also crucial that we consider that hackers and thieves are also advancing as well. While the idea of being able to pay bills by merely looking at your phone sounds good and exciting, we must also remember that technology may be good, but it is not perfect. The facial recognition used to pay bills may be a little too far fetched in regards to security concerns.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good article Mr. Morris. This clearly shows some of the greatest innovations happening to the payment methods using our smartphones. As you mentioned before that facial security is not adequate since many people look alike especially within one family for example I look like my big brother 100% therefore this means he will have the ability to purchase anything given that he has access to my smartphone. Generally the facial expression purchasing system needs a lot of backup security features to make it a "wow" innovation in the payment of goods!!! Brilliant innovation though.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a great idea as far as the security issues are concerned it can be solved. To protect people from criminals using their phones to acess their account there should be a facial recognition code that the owner sets. This code would be a facial expression only the user knows, just like a password but with this only the owner can do it.
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