New York Proposes Face Scans, Fingerprint Readers for Liquor Stores and Smoke Shops

Amazon One palm scan, currently in use at Panera, Crunch Fitness, Starbucks and more. (Photo: Amazon)

A proposed New York state bill would allow fingerprints, facial recognition and other types of biometric data as an acceptable form of identification in liquor stores and smoke shops.

If implemented, the technology wouldn’t be able to assess an individual’s age on a case-by-case basis. Rather, customers would link a valid ID to their biometric data, then use it to verify their age in lieu of a physical driver’s license, passport, etc.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator James Skoufis, thinks that the technology could be a game-changer. Amidst heightened concerns over personal privacy and policing, he also recognizes the mountain of potential criticism.

“As far as I can tell, there have been no hiccups with regard to age verification. There’s pre-registration for an account, for an individual. This isn’t a camera being set up with facial recognition, trying to find a criminal on the street and identify exactly who an individual is against the millions and millions of people who are out there in society, here in New York state or in the country. This is a matter of simply age verification.”

Though biometric scans have long been associated with law enforcement agencies like the TSA, the technology has begun to catch on in the retail market.

Amazon One — a service that allows users to link ID and credit card information to their palm signature — has been deployed at a steady pace since its invention in 2020. At the Coors Field Stadium in Colorado, you can now purchase booze with the literal swipe of a hand. Chances are, the service is coming to a store near you: Whole Foods recently announced that Amazon One will be implemented at 500+ locations by the end of the year.

Clear, another biometric verification platform, lets customers skip the line at the airport when they scan their retinas and fingerprints. Competitors like MyCheckr, CLEAR ID and Microsoft Face have found similar footholds across the nation.

As biometric scans become commonplace, critics have raised concerns over data privacy. In the case of New York, the proposed bill doesn’t specify where customer data would be stored — potentially raising the risk of identity theft.

For the most part, state-by-state initiatives to implement biometric technology have varied widely. As the intricacies of biometric law are tinkered out, anyone who willingly uses the technology should consider themselves an early adopter at best.

Senator Skoufis seems to agree.

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