Amazon One

Last updated
Amazon One
Company type Division
Industry Biometrics
FoundedSeptember 2020
Owner Amazon
Website amazonone.aws.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Amazon One is a biometrics system offered by Amazon, which uses images of the user's palm print to provide payments and authentication. It is used by retailers like Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go and Amazon Go Grocery, as well as third-party retailers who purchased the technology from Amazon. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Amazon filed for a patent for a "Non-contact biometric identification system" in 2018. The patent was granted in late 2019, and describes a system that analyzes multiple images of a user's palm, including skin creases and the position of veins. [3] Amazon publicly announced the technology as Amazon One in September 2020, debuting it to the public in two Amazon Go stores near the company's headquarters in Seattle. [4]

Amazon One terminal (right) in a Whole Foods Market store in Washington, D.C. in 2024 Amazon One - Pay With Your Palm - Verifone Payment Terminal (53816682453).jpg
Amazon One terminal (right) in a Whole Foods Market store in Washington, D.C. in 2024

Amazon One readers for payments were piloted at stores of Amazon subsidiary Whole Foods Market beginning in early 2022. [5] Whole Foods announced that it would implement the technology in all 65 of its stores in California in the summer of 2022, [6] and it was rolled out across the company's over 500 U.S. stores in 2023. [1]

In addition to its own properties, Amazon has also provided Amazon One technology to retailers, entertainment venues, and healthcare systems. Red Rocks Amphitheatre in the Denver metropolitan area began using Amazon One as an option for ticketing in 2021, in partnership with its ticketing operator AXS. [7] Panera Bread installed Amazon One equipment at multiple stores near its St. Louis headquarters in 2023, allowing customers to look up their MyPanera loyalty information and pay with their palm scan. [8] In 2025, Amazon One was introduced as an option for patient check-in at NYU Langone Health offices and hospitals. [9]

Reception

Shortly after the technology's announcement in 2020, Barron's reported that Amazon's development of palm scanning technology could potentially also be integrated into its Amazon Key brand, which provides access control hardware and services for indviduals and businesses. [10]

In August 2021, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Bill Cassidy, and Jon Ossoff sent a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, questioning the safety of the Amazon One users concerning the biometrics and cloud storage. [11] [12] [13]

After Amazon One technology was introduced at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in 2021, Fight for the Future led a protest against the technology, citing broad privacy and security concerns. Fight for the Future's open letter condemning the technology was signed by over 300 musicians, [1] including Tom Morello, Kathleen Hanna, and Mannequin Pussy. [14] Amazon One hardware was removed from Red Rocks after its 2021 season. The City of Denver, the operator of the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, claimed that the removal of Amazon One hardware was due to facility limitations and said that the technology could return. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mims, Christopher (August 12, 2023). "Amazon Wants You to Pay With Your Palm. It's a Sneak Attack on Apple and Google". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  2. ↑ Gartenberg, Chaim (April 21, 2021). "Amazon One's palm-scanning payments are coming to Whole Foods". The Verge.
  3. ↑ Rey, Jason Del (December 26, 2019). "Amazon wants to patent technology that could identify shoppers by their hands". Vox. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  4. ↑ Palmer, Annie (September 29, 2020). "Amazon unveils a way to pay with just your hand in stores". CNBC. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  5. ↑ Moran, Catherine Douglas (April 21, 2022). "Whole Foods continues checkout tech makeover with Amazon One | Grocery Dive". Grocery Dive. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  6. ↑ Mauran, Cecily (August 10, 2022). "Amazon's making a big push for its cashierless payment tech at Whole Foods". Mashable. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Amazon's palm-reading tech is heading to sports stadiums and music venues". Engadget. September 14, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  8. ↑ Kim, Juliana (March 28, 2023). "Panera rolls out hand-scanning technology that has raised privacy concerns". NPR. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  9. ↑ Capoot, Ashley (March 3, 2025). "Amazon to bring palm-scanning tech to NYU Langone Health facilities". CNBC. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  10. ↑ Savitz, Eric J. (September 30, 2020). "Amazon Palm Scan System Could Threaten Security Hardware Vendors". Barron's. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  11. ↑ Lewis, Mike (August 13, 2021). "U.S. senators question Amazon about its use of palm-reading biometric data". GeekWire.
  12. ↑ "Amazon One Payment System Questioned By Senators Over Privacy..." Consider The Consumer. August 25, 2021.
  13. ↑ "U.S. Senators call for transparency over how Amazon is storing customers' palm print information". king5.com. August 14, 2021.
  14. ↑ Bilstein, Jon (March 10, 2022). "Red Rocks Ditches Amazon Palm Scanning Tech After Artist Protest". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
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