I was picking up the typical bread, milk and eggs recently at my local Jewel store when I noticed a new addition at the cash register. Next to the credit card reader was a little green box with a small pane of glass on it and a scanner underneath. The diagram below informed me that I was able to place my thumb on the glass to pay instead of writing a check.
The system, created by Pay By Touch Solutions, uses certain points on a user’s fingerprint to link their credit cards and checks to them. The Washington Post reports similar systems to those Jewel is using being rolled out at gas stations, grocery and convenience stores across the nation, including chains like Piggly Wiggly and formerly Cub Foods.
According to Jewel’s Web site (www.jewel-osco.com), Pay By Touch is secure, using your finger as well as a 7-digit PIN (often a phone number), to confirm your identity and authorize purchases. The system is more trustworthy, they claim, because you don’t have to worry about losing a credit card or putting your personal information on a loose check.
Jewel claims that neither they nor Pay By Touch store any financial information in vulnerable places, and since the system uses points of a fingerprint rather than the entire thing, the assertion is that your identity is safe.
Still, something about this new approach reeks of an impending Big Brother. The debate about technology and privacy only grows hotter as more everyday activities start to rely on biometrics (like fingerprints, implantable microchips, and retina scans) to identify people digitally. According to USA Today, discreet facial recognition software is even being put into place in airports, trained to “recognize” terrorists. Although that is an entirely separate issue, it lends to the fact that rumors and paranoia about the government watching you are transforming what was once science fiction to everyday fact.
Perhaps I’ve just seen Minority Report too many times.
Nevertheless, although paying with your thumb may seem more foolproof and convenient, there is something to be said for anonymity as well. Although a finger can’t be misplaced like a credit card, we leave our fingerprints everywhere. They may be harder to steal, but some criminals will go to any extent.
And what about the fact that corporations are storing your biological information? The same way hackers have stolen bank account information and social security numbers from supposedly secure Internet sites, they may soon be downloading logs of your biometrics, and then we’ll really be facing identity theft problems.
I love technology, and to be frank, think these advances in biometrics are incredible. Call me paranoid, but the next time I’m in the check-out line at Jewel, I’ll be pulling out cold hard cash and leaving no trace of my visit. Somehow, it just makes me feel a little safer to know that I can buy my bread, milk and eggs anonymously.