MasterCard is in the trial stages of launching a revolutionary new app that will verify online purchases through facial recognition, or in layman’s term through “selfies”
MasterCard security expert Ajay Bhalla said, ““The new generation, which is into selfies… I think they’ll find it cool.”
MasterCard is not the first company to try facial recognition. Google launched facial recognition on Android phones and met many glitches in its earlier stages such as photographs substituting someone’s face.
In an attempt to learn from Google’s mistakes, MasterCard’s app will require users to blink to verify they are actually human, but there are still ways around this security measure. With advancements in biometrics, people have been able to animate eyelids onto photographs, hindering the progress MasterCard has made from Google’s trial and errors. At its earliest stage, the MasterCard app is being used by 500 american citizens.
Ken Munro, a security researcher at Pen Test Partners said, “If an ordinary password gets compromised, you can simply revoke it or change it. What happens if your facial recognition data gets stolen? You can’t change your face,” citing obvious drawbacks to this advancement in technology. Most experts say that the facial recognition system should be complemented with additional security precautions like a pin.
-Nishat Baig
