With the launch of the new iPhone X coming up next month, it is hard not to get excited about its most defining feature: the facial recognition software that can be used to unlock the phone (Macro, 2017). But while the Western world is still getting used to the idea of unlocking phones with faces instead of fingerprints, it seems that companies in China are way ahead of the game.
For example, it is now possible to pay for your order at KFC with your face. Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba, already presented the necessary technology back in 2015 and is now running its first commercial trial (Horwitz, 2017). The payment system allows customers to order on a digital menu and when they are ready to pay, customers can opt to use the so-called ‘Smile to pay’ method. A 3D camera scans a customer’s face which is used to log-in to their mobile payment app (Alipay) and the payment is completed after the customer has provided their mobile number as an extra verification method (Russell, 2017).
As the technology has already proven that it works successfully, it is probably only a matter of time before facial recognition as a payment method becomes adopted in the Western world as well. It will be interesting to see which companies will collaborate to make this a reality, and whether this method will entirely replace the QR code payment method that banks like ING use, or if it will become an additional payment method. With Apple now using facial recognition purely as a method to unlock the iPhone X, the company will soon have an entirely new set of valuable data. The opportunities Apple has with this data are, in theory, endless. From potentially being the first Western company to enable facial recognition as a payment method, to allowing third party users to more advertise to specific user groups more accurately should they be granted access to this sensitive data. (Brandom, 2017)
However, whether facial recognition software is used as new payment method or as a way to unlock your mobile device, it is important to think about some of the possible dangers that this development may bring along. One question that comes to mind is: ‘Could my face get stolen?’. While facial recognition is argued to be safer than finger print identification, it is hard to ignore the possibility of someone hacking your mobile device, and essentially copying your face (Brandom, 2017). The potential consequences of identity theft mean that companies who are looking to use facial recognition software will have to regularly update their security system and enforce a very strict privacy policy to protect their users against hackers.
All in all, it will be exciting to see which companies will collaborate next to begin commercial trials with facial recognition as a payment method, and how these companies will ensure that their users trust the system enough to actually use it.
References:
Brandom, R. (2017). The five biggest questions about Apple’s new facial recognition system. [online] TheVerge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/12/16298156/apple-iphone-x-face-id-security-privacy-police-unlock [Accessed 8 Oct. 2017].
Horwitz, J. (2017). In China, facial recognition is used to buy KFC, board planes, and catch drug users. [online] Quartz. Available at: https://qz.com/1067460/in-china-facial-recognition-is-used-to-buy-kfc-board-planes-and-catch-drug-users/ [Accessed 8 Oct. 2017].
Macro, A. (2017). iPhone X news: release date, price, new features & specs. [online] MacWorld. Available at: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/iphone/iphone-x-news-release-date-price-new-features-specs-3639808/ [Accessed 8 Oct. 2017].
Russell, J. (2017). Alibaba debuts ‘smile to pay’ facial recognition payments at KFC in China. [online] TechCrunch. Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/03/alibaba-debuts-smile-to-pay/ [Accessed 8 Oct. 2017].
Interesting post Lilith. The biometric technology makes payments easier in many cases, however you do raise some legitimate concerns regarding privacy and safety. Personally, I am curious as to how it works with twins. Although there are some risks that go along with biometric payments, there are also a number of opportunities. For example, one company called Humaniq is hoping to use facial recognition payments to enable unbanked individuals in developing countries to transfer money from person to person, without having to register a bank account. According to their website (https://humaniq.com/), there are over 2 billion unbanked individuals (which means they are unable to get a bank account) due to the level of poverty they are in, which brings a number of difficulties with it. It will be interesting to see if other companies will move ahead with biometric recognition in payments.
Very interesting post! I wasn’t aware of facial payment systems were already developed, thus very informing for me to read. I think that facial payments could indeed be a lot safer than most current payment systems. However, my main concern with facial recognition is the problem of people undergoing big facial surgeries or have suffered from extreme facial injuries. Furthermore, although farfetched, someone could in fact 3D print a copy of someone’s face. Concerning these safety issues, we should then ask ourselves whether developing facial payment systems are in fact beneficiary to our society, when the current payment methods could in fact be considered safer.