Amazon’s One palm biometrics readers for businesses get a lukewarm introduction

A contactless palm biometric service from Amazon reportedly is being adopted by a few organizations, one of which is an Amazon unit.

One Enterprise, an expansion of Amazon‘s retail-centric One palm ID authentication hardware and software, is “in preview in the U.S.,” according to the company’s announcement. It is not clear what “in preview” means, but it doesn’t sound like the service is being gobbled up by the market.

The service is designed for single-business and campus use. People entering a controlled space or needing to access restricted software and data would hold their palms over a One reader. Palm and vein templates would be scanned and compared to offer or withhold rights.

One Enterprise supports access control protocols including the SIA’s Open Supervised Device Protocol and Wiegand, according to Amazon. The company claims it is 99.999 percent accurate but does not offer information supporting that statistic.

The service is seen by Amazon, at least in some instances, as beginning with installation of One scanner stations and then connection to its AWS management console software. Control of the hardware and software would be centralized under that code.

Those enrolling in One Enterprise could do it by hovering their palms over the scanner to link that template with any identification required by the company. Biometric enrollment could also be done in a dedicated office.

All personally identifying data from a scan would be encrypted using a unique key.

The service will be part of People Flow systems made by Kone, a maker of elevators and escalators, according to the company.

Amazon’s Global Security for AWS data centers apparently use One Enterprise to some extent already and there reportedly are plans to expand it to all data centers.

Door and turnstile maker Boon Edam Americas has endorsed the service without expressly committing to purchases. Boon Edam says the biometric service would be a valuable addition to its product line, although no commitment is made in its statement in Amazon’s announcement. Executives likely will use it as an upsell.

From a buyer perspective, IHG Hotels & Resorts, which has 6,000 hotels, talking in the announcement about its goal to use One Enterprise for employee access. Paznic, which makes security systems for bank safe deposit rooms, says in Amazon’s announcement that it looks forward to adding One Enterprise to its menu.

Article Topics

access control  |  Amazon One  |  authentication  |  biometrics  |  palm biometrics