Amazon Plans to Take Selfies Instead of Passwords for Mobile Shoppers

The idea of using a selfie as a security measure isn’t new by itself. MasterCard was seen doing something similar not so long ago.

A recent patent filing from Amazon, meanwhile, suggests that the company will be bringing its own breed of selfie security to its mobile shopping operations.

The patent in question describes a process where users can use a photo or video as a security mechanism, without the specific need for passwords.

Facial recognition systems process the image, and one or more “human-verification processes” subsequently step in to ensure that the image in question is that of a human being, and not just a picture.

Head tracking technologies also provide a note of protection against the two-dimensional representations.

For those interested in such a platform, this is likely good news; we’ve seen facial recognition systems spoofed by pictures—moving or otherwise—for some time now.

The notion that Amazon’s got this concept licked, meanwhile, means that about the only way to beat the system now is to have a direct physical copy of a human face.

That’s about as good as, say, a fingerprint or a retinal scan, and that makes this on par with the best in biometric security. It would have been worrisome had that level of protection not been built in, but now that it is, it should be worthwhile.

Though it’s worth wondering why such a program would be built in in the first place; admittedly, it’s very inconvenient to stop and input username and password combinations on a mobile device—the keyboard on a mobile can be tiny, and it generally doesn’t lend itself well to touch typing—but why even have it at all?

Granted, staying signed in on a device can be a bit dangerous, but it’s not that big a risk. Maybe Amazon’s trying to solve a problem here that isn’t all that prevalent.

Still, for those who want to sign out and sign back in every time, Amazon looks to offer a smart way to do so. Security has always been a major part of mobile shopping, and Amazon’s new selfie-based security system should prove to be a fairly strong protective measure if it all works as planned.