Technology

Fight for the Future takes aim at Amazon palm scan tech

Image courtesy of Fight for the Future.

October 29, 2021

Fight for the Future, an organization dedicated to defending what it considers basic human rights in the digital age, has urged Red Rocks Amphitheater, its ticketing partner AXS, and AEG Worldwide to immediately cancel all contracts and plans to use Amazon's palm scanning technology for event entry, and to ban all biometric surveillance at venues and events, according to a press release.

The Amazon One scanners were introduced at Red Rocks in mid-September, the result of a contract between AEG and Amazon. AXS, AEG's ticketing group, says other venues will soon be adding the palm scanning option. Fight for the Future contacted representatives of Red Rocks, AEG and AXS to request a meeting to discuss the dangers of palm scanning, but received no response, according to the release.

Fight for the Future claims Amazon could pass the biometric data collected from the palm scans to government agencies that want to track and target political activists, people of color and other marginalized groups. The fact that Amazon is storing the palm scan data in the cloud also raises identity theft concerns, given that biometric data are largely immutable — they cannot be changed or replaced if stolen — and corporate cloud databases have frequently been targeted by hackers.

"Palm scanning and facial recognition are simply two sides of the same coin. We're not letting Amazon and corporations like AEG destroy the incredible ground activists, fans, and human rights advocates have gained in keeping people safe from biometric surveillance at live events," Lia Holland, campaigns and communications director at Fight for the Future, said in the press release.

Amazon had not responded to a request for comment at the time of this report.