Pennsylvania Toys With Self-Service Wine Kiosks With Integrated Facial Recognition and Breathalyzers
Written by Evan SchumanJuly 16th, 2009
Pennsylvania is preparing a test an unusual grocery store-based wine-selling kiosk, one that demands a photo driver's license to establish age and then uses facial recognition to try and match the customer to that license image. The system also requires that the customer breathe into the kiosk and it will not complete the sale if it detects that the customer is already drunk. The state's Liquor Control Board has pledged that the kiosks will be watched through video cameras and will have the remote ability to prevent a sale if something looks suspicious.
The move is part of a plan to move the state stores from IBM software over to an Oracle package and the contract anticipates--and prohibits--the kiosk company from making money from combining the payment card data and blood-alcohol levels and selling. (A little blackmail potential? If it weren't for that prohibition, it has all the potential for a nice business plan.)
This Story Is Only Available For Premium Subscribers. Click Or Login In Below To Read The Rest Of This Story.
Already a Subscriber? Login Here
Leave a Reply
Readers, specifically those who want to comment on a story:
Our Comment SPAM system is getting very aggressive these days and has been blocking legitimate comments. If you post a comment and don't see it appear within 2 hours or so, can you please send a heads-up to customer-service@storefrontbacktalk.com? Ideally, please include the time you posted the comment. That will allow us to try and hunt for it. Thanks! P.S. We're working on fixing the system, but we don't want to lose any valuable comments in the meantime.
Our Comment SPAM system is getting very aggressive these days and has been blocking legitimate comments. If you post a comment and don't see it appear within 2 hours or so, can you please send a heads-up to customer-service@storefrontbacktalk.com? Ideally, please include the time you posted the comment. That will allow us to try and hunt for it. Thanks! P.S. We're working on fixing the system, but we don't want to lose any valuable comments in the meantime.
I have strong reservations about the 'individual' certification and posting of that information for merchants. Can you imagine the potential employee poaching that might occur? The implications when competitors can look up how many are certified with each of their competitors? 
-Christine
