Soon, Google Assistant will confirm purchases with your voice
In a bid to enable a hands-free shopping experience, Google is working to add a new capability into Assistant, a feature that verifies your voice to authorize a purchase. It is being tested as part of an early and limited trial but is expected to show up on the personal voice assistant in the near future. Here's all about it.
User identification via voice match
Just recently, the folks at Android Police reported the discovery of a new 'Voice Match' setting under the Payments and Security section of Google Assistant. The option configures the Assistant to verify the voice of the user to confirm it is actually the owner of the device who is making the payment through the digital helper and not somebody else.
Payment proceeds only after voice match
When this toggle is turned on, Google Assistant will attempt to verify your voice with the voice profile already fed into it. If the match is successful, the AI will authorize the purchase, letting you make the payment through voice commands. But, in case that does not happen, it would give an error, much like what you get during incorrect fingerprint recognition payment apps.
People with similar voice could exploit this
While the feature will be handy to use with Google Home smart speakers and displays, it must be noted that it can also be exploited by a person having a similar voice or a recording of your voice to confirm purchases on your name.
Test for select digital purchases
Meanwhile, Google has confirmed to Android Police that the voice feature is being tested to authorize purchases in a handful of categories. At the time of writing, this only included in-app digital purchases through the Google Play Store and restaurant orders. However, as the feature moves closer to public availability, it might work with a wider range of digital products and sites.
Announcement possible in coming months
Given that the feature is being tested around the same time Google hoped to host the now-canceled I/O 2020, it is widely suspected that this is one of the features the company had planned to show off at the event. Now, it might be announced in the coming months, along with other interesting features planned for Google Assistant.
