The coronavirus creates new trusted partners

Because the Coronavirus is extremely contagious, personal work interactions, including Gig and Sharing Economy transactions, have evolved into faceless and sometimes virtual interactions.

Delivery agents no longer greet you at the door. Digital notifications have replaced agent smiles, and packages are left unattended at doorsteps for customers to retrieve – conditions that are perfect for porch pirates who pilfer packages for profit. Ben Stickle, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Middle Tennessee State, Ben Stickle, confirmed the growing cost of faceless home delivery while also concluded that the most effective porch pirates are those who pretend to be delivery agents[1]. 

Though faceless and virtual services are a vital pandemic service for citizens sheltering-in-place, an increase in theft (identity and personal assets) has customers and companies wondering if contactless delivery is a sustainable business model. According to Security.org, “…the pandemic has given rise to a spike in package theft.

The week of May 17- 23, 2020, an estimated 25 million U.S. households (or one in five) have been victims of porch pirates[2].” Porch Piracy is expensive for retailers as well. Security.org estimated that the average cost to replace a stolen package is $109, and their study also concluded that 83% of customers would not re- order from retailers if they experience poor delivery. 

If pandemics are the “New Normal,” contactless deliveries will replace brick and mortar retailing, and the companies with the best package delivery security solutions will be the winners. Tech giants are betting that biometrics will be a cornerstone of the security infrastructure that reduces porch piracy. These future biometric solutions are likely to mandate that Gig workers and consumers surrender their biometrics to participate in contactless transactions. 

Amazon already requires its FLEX delivery drivers (contractors who use their cars for deliveries) take selfies and will use facial recognition to double-check to make sure they are who they say they are[3]. New startups like Kiwibot are offering semi-autonomous, knee-high sized, Mars Rover-style delivery robots that require biometric verification to place and release the products from its delivery bin. Concerns about most biometric security solutions stem from how the biometric and the Personally identifiable information (PII) are stored. 

Google, Apple, and Samsung collect facial, iris, and facial recognition data as part of their smartphones’ login infrastructure. Apple, Samsung, and Google do not keep copies of user fingerprints or facial recognition data on their servers. Instead, they use algorithms to convert raw biometric data (face, iris, and finger scans) into mathematical representations of the features and securely stores the encrypted data on the smartphone. When you open your phone, the system performs a local match (actual image compared to store mathematical string).

Unlocking your phone is a linear solution. Solving the package piracy problem requires a more sophisticated, multi-sided trust solution. Retailers must trust the identities of the customer and the delivery agent before initiating the transaction. Customers will need to verify the identity and credentials of gig workers before granting them rights and privileges. Gig workers must trust the customer identities before they make the delivery.

Moreover, there isn’t a one- sized-fits-all biometric solution when it comes to delivery identity verification. In some applications, voice recognition is the best solution (granting remote access to your garage), while other delivery applications are better suited for fingerprint verification (Kiwibot in-person delivery). 

If you buy what I am selling, then you will agree that the future of the Gig and Sharing Economy will hinge on the type of identity verification solution that gets implemented.

Having every grocery store chain and electronics retailer collect biometric enrollment data from Gig workers and consumers before they offer home delivery services is not a secure or sustainable solution. Instead, Gig workers and consumers should fight for the creation of an independent, trusted third-party (TTP) that archives and verifies biometric data while not claiming ownership to the users PII.

The TTP would act as the traffic cop between contracting parties so that neither entity has to warehouse sensitive information. The TTP would verify the biometric match and send a positive or negative notification to both parties. Absent a TTP, smaller or less reputable services will gather similar information with different levels of security, putting Gig Workers’ and consumers’ privacy and identities at risk. 

Apple, Google, and Amazon could act as a TTP. These Tech Giants already have rich account information on millions of users, and they have a biometric enrollment process that decentralizes storage of the biometric credential on smart devices that consumers keep with them at all times. Fortunately, with the advent of the blockchain, the decentralized, user-controlled solution that best serves Gig workers and consumers might be in reach. Now is the time for Gig workers and consumers to make their voices heard on this topic before the New Normal is implemented.