# Google trialling Hands Free payment service - no need to touch your phone



## editor (Mar 3, 2016)

Interesting and potentially very handy, but with the usual half ton of caveats about privacy, hackability etc: 





> " Imagine if you could rush through a drive-thru without reaching for your wallet, or pick up a hot dog at the ballpark without fumbling to pass coins or your credit card to the cashier. This prompted us to build a pilot app called Hands Free that we're now in the early stages of testing. It lets you pay in stores quickly, easily, and completely hands-free."
> 
> It uses a combination of Bluetooth LE, WiFi and location services to determine whether you're around a participating store. When it's time to pay up, all you have to do is say "I'll pay with Google," hand over your initials and the cashier will use the photo you added to your Hands Free profile as collateral to make sure it's actually you spending your money.
> 
> At some stores, in-store cameras will be used to recognize you, making it even faster. Sounds pretty neat.



Google wants you to go Hands Free to pay for things, trial starting in South Bay


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## DotCommunist (Mar 3, 2016)

another step closer to the Mark of The Beast.


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## bi0boy (Mar 3, 2016)

Sounds good apart from the uploading a selfie to your google profile bit.


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## StoneRoad (Mar 3, 2016)

don't think I'll be doing this ...


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 4, 2016)

It sounds neat and all, but companies like Barclaycard are already doing it with Android phones and it can work on existing equipment in shops.


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## editor (Mar 4, 2016)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> It sounds neat and all, but companies like Barclaycard are already doing it with Android phones and it can work on existing equipment in shops.


It's not the same thing at all.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 4, 2016)

editor said:


> It's not the same thing at all.



Well you pay with your phone. 

Obviously it's not the same thing. That's why retailers will need fresh hardware. We've only just got contactless in the village I live.


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## sim667 (Mar 7, 2016)

God forbid that you have to "reach for your wallet" whilst "rushing a drive through"........ Its a fucking travesty in this day and age.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 7, 2016)

sim667 said:


> God forbid that you have to "reach for your wallet" whilst "rushing a drive through"........ Its a fucking travesty in this day and age.



And then rush down the road, burger in hand  

Actually McDonald's had contactless years before most places and drive throughs are certainly easier with it, especially on wet days.


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## irf520 (Mar 7, 2016)

So google gets a database with everyone's photo in it, plus a skim off every retail transaction.

By the way, if you buy any "Google NEST" devices or any other voice activated gizmos (e.g. 'smart' TVs), they transmit everything you say back to home planet over the internet. That's how the voice recognition works.

Google - "Do No Evil". Yeah right.


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## kabbes (Mar 7, 2016)

This sounds like something I will say I will never do, scoff at its pointlessness when it arrives and then end up using routinely in 10 years.  I have learnt to spot the pattern.

So.  This is something I will never do.


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## Gromit (Mar 7, 2016)

irf520 said:


> So google gets a database with everyone's photo in it, plus a skim off every retail transaction.



PayPal already have a database with photos for merchants to confirm who you are. 

I hate the idea of my phone becoming my wallet purely because my wallet doesn't stop functioning when it's battery runs out.


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## editor (Mar 7, 2016)

irf520 said:


> So google gets a database with everyone's photo in it, plus a skim off every retail transaction.
> 
> By the way, if you buy any "Google NEST" devices or any other voice activated gizmos (e.g. 'smart' TVs), they transmit everything you say back to home planet over the internet. That's how the voice recognition works.
> 
> Google - "Do No Evil". Yeah right.


That's how every other card works so it's hardly 'evil'. Do you expect them to offer the service for free? It's your choice whether to use it or not. I dare some people will be very happy to use it.

PS Google Nest Protect does not have voice recognition, silly.


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## souljacker (Mar 7, 2016)

editor said:


> PS Google Nest Protect does not have voice recognition, silly.



It does it through the google app.


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## editor (Mar 7, 2016)

souljacker said:


> It does it through the google app.


How, exactly? What does it supposedly listen for? What voice input is it supposed to be recognising?


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## souljacker (Mar 7, 2016)

editor said:


> How, exactly? What does it supposedly listen for? What voice input is it supposed to be recognising?



The google app listens to what you want to set the temperature to and then tells the nest.


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## editor (Mar 7, 2016)

souljacker said:


> The google app listens to what you want to set the temperature to and then tells the nest.


Er, read my post again. We're talking about Google Nest Protect. That is not a thermostat. It is a smoke alarm. And it does not have voice recognition.


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## souljacker (Mar 7, 2016)

Aah, irf was talking about Nest in general. I didn't spot you were talking about one single product. Although I suspect you can silence a smoke alarm with a voice command.


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## editor (Mar 7, 2016)

souljacker said:


> Aah, irf was talking about Nest in general. I didn't spot you were talking about one single product.


Even with the Thermostat, you have to open up Google to enable it to listen to voice commands. It does not 'transmit everything you say' and only listens when you have _opened up the app to instruct it_.


souljacker said:


> Although I suspect you can silence a smoke alarm with a voice command.


You're not really clued up here, are you? You can't. It might be a bit difficult shouting over the noise of the alarm.


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## souljacker (Mar 7, 2016)

editor said:


> Even with the Thermostat, you have to open up Google to enable it to listen to voice commands. It does not 'transmit everything you say' and only listens when you have _opened up the app to instruct it_.
> You're not really clued up here, are you? You can't. It might be a bit difficult shouting over the noise of the alarm.



Why do you always have to be an abusive dick? I was only pointing out you can control a Nest using voice commands.


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## sim667 (Mar 7, 2016)

irf520 said:


> So google gets a database with everyone's photo in it, plus a skim off every retail transaction.
> 
> By the way, if you buy any "Google NEST" devices or any other voice activated gizmos (e.g. 'smart' TVs), they transmit everything you say back to home planet over the internet. That's how the voice recognition works.
> 
> Google - "Do No Evil". Yeah right.


Is this true?

I was going to buy one of these.

Edit: you're talking about the Nest Protect, fire alarms etc right?


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## editor (Mar 7, 2016)

souljacker said:


> Why do you always have to be an abusive dick? I was only pointing out you can control a Nest using voice commands.


I'm not seeing the 'abuse' here but you did keep posting up a load of ill informed cobblers. Even when I told you the Nest Protect didn't have any kind of voice recognition you still decided you knew best, adding "I suspect you can silence a smoke alarm with a voice command." Which was plain wrong.


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## fuck seals (Mar 7, 2016)

irf520 said:


> So google gets a database with everyone's photo in it, plus a skim off every retail transaction.
> 
> /snip/
> 
> Google - "Do No Evil". Yeah right.



It's been like this for a decade already.  Payment processing companies, card issuers, etc already make (up to) 9-figure sums annually of this skim and have considerable personal data about you (which you want them to have in order to authenticate you properly).

When you use an ATM in the uk, 0.5%-2% transaction fee is baked into your cost of banking.  Vocalink (think link network) do this
First Data, Vantive, 5th 3rd, PayPoint, WorldPay, Barclaycard, TSYS take 1-4% (baked into the cost of the items you buy) every time you use a card.
Apple(pay), Paypal, et al, take %points off you with every app purchase
Global Collect (or Xsolla) take 1.5% off every Steam/ Valve transaction
etc etc

This is just a (slightly whimsical?) application of technology by Google; however the business model is precisely the same.


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## irf520 (Mar 7, 2016)

It's true that voice recognition systems involve transmitting the audio picked up by the microphone over the internet so that they can run the voice recgnition algorithms server side.
It's true that Smart TVs transmit your voice over the internet:

"Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition," Samsung posted in its SmartTV privacy policy.

taken from here: Your Samsung TV is eavesdropping on your private conversations

In the particular case of Nest, it seems that (at least for the moment) the voice recognition is done via the phone, so maybe you're safe (or least not at any additional risk) for now. Although it's still the case that if you use the "Hey Google" feature (or Siri on the iPhone, or Cortana on microsoft systems) the audio from the mic is sent over the internet for analysis.

I still think it's worth pointing out the risk though as voice recognition becomes more ubiquitous. Basically if you have a device that does voice recognition it can be used to snoop on you. No doubt the manufacturers will swear blind that they would never do that, but then we all know how much those assurances will be worth when TPTB say that it's necessary to use all available information to "prevent terrorism".


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## 2hats (Mar 7, 2016)

That smartphone apps (or those of similar OSes) can eavesdrop on the ambient noise environment (and then forward/act on that) really shouldn't come as a surprise. It's been demonstrated numerous times.

As to the OP, I never have to touch my phone when paying either; I keep my cash in a different pocket.


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