According to the UK's Mirror newspaper on July 25th, some sports arenas and bars in the United States are currently promoting the use of facial recognition or palm recognition for customers to make payments.

This biometric recognition technology can "read" a person's facial or palm image to determine if they are of legal drinking age. Without having to present a driver's license or other forms of identification, it not only makes it convenient for sellers but also protects customer privacy.

However, there are also concerns raised, fearing that biometric systems may be misused. Legislative proposals in New York and Washington states would allow bars, restaurants, and other stores selling adult items to verify customers' ages using biometric data, such as fingerprints or palm vein patterns, or through retina and facial scans. New York's bill would require encryption of biometric data and prohibit companies from selling data to third parties.

Andrew O'Brien, the product manager of the UK-based Innovative Technology Ltd., which developed the system, explained, "The algorithm used by this system, called MyCheckr, has been trained by observing millions of people of different ages and is completely anonymous. It does not store or transmit any data of the scanned faces." However, as biometric technology becomes more common, despite assurances, there are still concerns about privacy and racial discrimination. Despite public concerns, biometric technology is expanding in various ways, not just for age verification.