If a patent application is anything to go by, selfies could soon authenticate online purchases, courtesy of Amazon.
The Seattle-based e-commerce giant filed a patent that described use of images, video and facial recognition to make online buying secure. If realized, a facial-recognition technology would greatly enhance Amazon's One-Click buying.
"As people are utilizing computing devices for an increasing variety of tasks, there is a corresponding need to improve the security available for these tasks," the patent's prelude reads. "While many conventional approaches rely on password entry for user authentication, these passwords can be stolen or discovered by other persons who can impersonate the user for any of a variety of tasks."
An image of the user obtained through a mobile phone or webcam will be required to authenticate a transaction. Though it promises security improvement, the technology may not be foolproof the company notes in its patent.
"Such a process can potentially be spoofed by holding or otherwise providing a picture or other representation of an authorized user within a field of view of a camera of a computing device, as the relative point distribution determined from the image will be substantially the same as if the computing device was capturing an image of the actual user," the patent application reads.
Among the many ways to prevent spoofing, the filing notes that users may have to blink or perform an action that would help Amazon recognize a live and authentic user in front of the camera.
The benefits of using selfies go beyond hackers and security; parents can prevent children from making unwarranted purchases through their devices and save frequent buyers the trouble of typing hard-to-remember passwords.
"The entry of these passwords on portable devices is not user friendly in many cases, as the small touchscreen or keyboard elements can be difficult to accurately select using a relatively large human finger," the patent notes, "and can require the user to turn away from friends or co-workers when entering a password, which can be awkward or embarrassing in many situations."
Amazon will however not earn credit for pioneering image-based purchases, as other companies are doing it. MasterCard announced last month it would allow users to authenticate their identity using selfies for mobile online purchases.
