Payment provider Mastercard announced this
week that it is developing various technologies that will allow it to
identify customers by their strides, heartbeat, and vein patterns.
According to a report
by MarketWatch, Mastercard is developing biometric technology that will
allow the payment provider and other companies to identify their
customers based on unusual biometrics. The new technology will
specifically allow Mastercard to identify customers based on the way
that they walk, the unique pattern of their heartbeat, and the layout of
their veins.
Ajay Bhalla, president of cyber and intelligence solutions for
Mastercard, said in a short comment that the company is eager to track
their user’s unique biometric data. To Mastercard, these metrics are the
next evolution beyond the fingerprint scanners that have become common
in smartphones.
“The way you hold your phone, which ear you use, and how your fingers
touch the buttons are all unique to you,” Bhalla said. “We have been
testing heartbeat, vein technology, and the way people walk to
authenticate people.”
Mastercard is also looking into vascular matching technology, which
identifies individuals based on the vein pattern that is identifiable on
their skin. “We are looking closely at a range of modalities for
biometric authentication, including gait analysis, ECG
[electrocardiogram] and vein pattern to identify a user,” a MasterCard
spokesman said.
Bhalla said that the credit card giant also wants to use heartbeat
monitoring to identify their customers. “A user could wear a band around
their wrist that measures the pulse and constantly authenticates you.”
The usage of biometrics is controversial both by governments and
private companies. Facebook recently settled an Illinois lawsuit for
$550 million on the topic of biometrics. According to Breitbart News’
reporting on the lawsuit:
The lawsuit began in 2015 when Facebook users from
Illinois alleged that the site violated the state’s Biometric
Information Privacy Act by using facial recognition software to analyze
users’ photos. The lawsuit specifically related to Facebook’s “Tag
Suggestions” feature which allowed users to recognize their Facebook
friends from uploaded photos.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.
The fingerprint stuff is bad enough. Using that to open a phone means that print is now on file, and they have it whether you ever committed a crime or not. They push DNA "ancestry" tests, to get that on more people. Now biometric data as well? Any excuse to collect personal data!
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