Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
Listen
Podcasts AirTalk
As Hand And Face Scanners Become Ubiquitous, How Comfortable Are You With Sharing Your Biometric Data?
solid blue rectangular banner
()
AirTalk Tile 2024
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

Sep 9, 2019
Listen 14:58
As Hand And Face Scanners Become Ubiquitous, How Comfortable Are You With Sharing Your Biometric Data?
In the last week, Delta Airlines and Amazon have both announced plans to use biometric scanners to mitigate lines of customers.
A woman boarding a SAS flight to Copenhagen goes through facial recognition verification system VeriScan at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, on September 6, 2018. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)        (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
A woman boarding a SAS flight to Copenhagen goes through facial recognition verification system VeriScan at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, on September 6, 2018.
(
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
)

In the last week, Delta Airlines and Amazon have both announced plans to use biometric scanners to mitigate lines of customers.

In the last week, Delta Airlines and Amazon have both announced plans to use biometric scanners to mitigate lines of customers.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Delta Airlines plans to unveil their facial scanners at LAX this Friday. The devices will be stationed outside one boarding gate, with plans to expand in the future.

Amazon, meanwhile, is still in the early stages of introducing hand scanners in Whole Foods stores. The New York Post reports that Amazon employees have been testing the scanners at vending machines in their New York offices. Unlike iPhone thumbprint sensor technology, Amazon’s scanners will use depth geometry and computer vision to map customers hands without them needing to touch a surface. 

Would you use biometric technology if it made lines at the airport shorter? Do you feel different about facial scanning compared to hand sensing? Join the conversation at 866-893-5722.

Guests:

Roger Cheng, executive editor of CNET, the tech news site; he tweets

Richard Feinberg, professor of consumer sciences and retailing and consumer psychologist in the Department of Consumer Science at Purdue University

Credits
Host, AirTalk
Host, All Things Considered, AirTalk Friday
Senior Producer, AirTalk & FilmWeek
Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
Associate Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
Apprentice News Clerk, AirTalk
Apprentice News Clerk, FilmWeek