Apple Quietly Added New Passcode Requirement for Touch ID

[2807]

The Bill of Rights means more to me than any inconvenience I may have from my long, complex password on my iOS devices. I'm glad these changes are being made.

Let us just remember, the Bill of Rights protects you against "unreasonable" searches and seizures.
With probable cause, and a valid warrant, the search is not unreasonable.

Also. You have no "right" to keep private:
1. Evidence of a crime
2. Evidence of national security

If Apple sees a business model in creating an unsearchable tool and marketing it as useful for committing crime, let them. However, they will not get away with calling that patriotic. Too many people understand the law, and will expose the profit driven motive for what it is.

 

[doelcm82]

Ah you are right. I wonder why they added that 8 hour rule then.

The reason for six days AND eight hours is probably so the phone doesn't invoke the passcode in the middle of a task.

If you were in the kitchen following a recipe on your phone and it happened to time out, Apple didn't want you to have to enter a passcode just because six days had passed.

It's most likely to happen in the morning when you wake up. If you routinely wake in the middle of the night and check your phone, you could go indefinitely without having to enter your passcode.

Each time you enter your passcode, the timer resets. For six days, all you have to do to avoid entering the passcode again is unlock the phone with TouchID at least once every 48 hours. After six days, all you have to do to avoid it is unlock the phone at least once every 8 hours.

 

[tbrinkma]

But it means nothing to the dozens of millions iPhone users in other countries. It should be configurable.

The Bill of Rights may not mean anything to iPhone users outside of US jurisdiction, but *security* still does.
Even more so in some of those locations, where holding an opinion that is 'unpopular' with the local government can mean prison time, or worse.

 

[9052042]

Interesting; I wonder why they picked 8 hours. Most people sleep around that much, so this means folks will have to enter their password about once a week on average if they don't reboot their phone (most people don't)

You sleep 8 consecutive hours only once a week? Hard working fellow

 

[C DM]

You sleep 8 consecutive hours only once a week? Hard working fellow

Doesn't matter how much you sleep as this doesn't kick in more than about once a week.

 

[Mactendo]

The Bill of Rights may not mean anything to iPhone users outside of US jurisdiction, but *security* still does.
Even more so in some of those locations, where holding an opinion that is 'unpopular' with the local government can mean prison time, or worse.

Or the local law may force you to unlock the phone with your fingerprint. This passcode requirement should be configurable.

 

[tbrinkma]

Or the local law may force you to unlock the phone with your fingerprint. This passcode requirement should be configurable.

This whole article is talking about another scenario where your fingerprint *WILL NOT* unlock the phone.
Have you been reading any of the discussion so far?

 

[nt5672]

As someone who considers the possibility that the government will seek out and find something incriminating on my phone almost as likely as being struck by lightening twice in the same day, I find the constant demand to double-unlock it for my own use to be nothing better than an annoying sop to the massively paranoid.

Then you are not really aware of what the government is doing or wants to do. Try reading a little about history or other world governments, its not about what you think is incriminating, it is ALL about what the government decides is against its current desires. Today you may not be anti-government, but someday you will be. How do I know? Because all governments abuse power and when they do, they go after those people that are against their abuse of power. Privacy is about freedom, not laws. Without privacy you have no freedom. Please wake up.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Then you are not really aware of what the government is doing or wants to do. Try reading a little about history or other world governments, its not about what you think is incriminating, it is ALL about what the government decides is against its current desires. Today you may not be anti-government, but someday you will be. How do I know? Because all governments abuse power and when they do, they go after those people that are against their abuse of power. Privacy is about freedom, not laws. Without privacy you have no freedom. Please wake up.

Thank you for telling me what I know and how I will feel. Sure saves me a lot of bother.

 

[spfirman]

I hope they allow us to turn this off. Apple seems to be loosing touch with the user experience with the obsession over "security".

 

[Cergman]

No, not really...if the thief knows how to shut it down quickly.

1. Force reboot
2. Remove screws
3. Open iPhone
4. Remove battery

Takes 1 minute to do with simple tools. They can just keep force rebooting or putting the phone into airplane mode which shuts down all connectivity.

Of course, then Activation Lock kills them.

or just remove the sim card...

 

[C DM]

I hope they allow us to turn this off. Apple seems to be loosing touch with the user experience with the obsession over "security".

With something that would come up about once a week at most, seems like it's not really something that would really get in the way.

 

[davidg4781]

[doublepost=1463630361][/doublepost]The best suggestion I saw was to have one of your fingerprints be a "panic" fingerprint for TouchID; one that immediately locks down the iPhone. It would be a cool security feature to keep Big Brother away.

I wonder if that could be considered destruction of evidence or getting in the way of police business. I like the idea but this is more willfully done compared to maybe scanning the wrong finger or not remembering the passcode.

 

[kohlson]

This is similar/the same way my Iphone 6 has worked for at least 2 months, maybe more. That is, I had to enter the PIN once a week. I have a corporate security profile on my phone -- I thought this was them.

 

[Tinmania]

What I find super annoying is having to put in my Apple ID password the first time u want to download something in the store. Why isn't TouchID enough? You already had to put in the passcode after the reboot anyway. Are they saying TouchID isn't trustworthy enough to confirm its really you?

I hate that too. Meanwhile I can use TouchID to access my bank accounts and transfer thousands of dollars without issue. But download a free app? ENTER PASS CODE! Unreal.




Mike

 

[mwd25]

As someone who considers the possibility that the government will seek out and find something incriminating on my phone almost as likely as being struck by lightening twice in the same day, I find the constant demand to double-unlock it for my own use to be nothing better than an annoying sop to the massively paranoid.

Here we go, another "if your not doing anything wrong, you got nothing to worry about" comment. Well, I dont expect the police to be kicking down my door and rushing in with a swat team. Its about as likely as winning the lotto.......but that doesnt mean I am against requiring police to have a valid search warrant. Its highly unlikely the Manson Family will burst into my home and stab myself and loved ones to death......but you better believe I wont be leaving my doors un locked. I WILL go through the hassle of dead bolting my locks and setting an alarm on my home when I leave. Guess what? You dont have to use touch id, you can leave your doors un-locked, you can leave your car running when you run into the store. For the rest of us though, we like these features so feel free to turn it off.

 

[AntonLee]

You'd be surprised if you found out the average American commits 3 felonies a day without ever knowing it

 

[Tinmania]

It's not even close to that. Once a week basically, if that.

Yea sure. No one sleeps 8 hours except for once a week.

 

[blasto2236]

This isn't going to solve much because the vast majority of people still use a 4 digit passcode. Most don't know that they can make it longer, either 6 digits or alphanumeric. The root problem is that 4 digits is still an option.

I also see a great deal of people that are not making use of TouchID at all. Most of the time the response is "I didn't know I could do that" or "I don't know how to set that up."

It is literally one of the first things the phone asks you to do, right out of the box. You have to go out of your way NOT to turn it on. Same with the 6 digit passcode. It is the default option.

 

[C DM]

Yea sure. No one sleeps 8 hours except for once a week.

Please, please re-read the actual article that this is about and/or many posts in this thread that re-explain it all multiple times to actually understand the conditions that are involved in all of this.

Why is such a simple thing so hard for so many?

 

[ziggie216]

or just remove the sim card...

wouldn't work if the phone is still connected to an active hotspot

 

[kdarling]

Sometimes it's hard to tell who's more controlling. Apple or the relatively rare government possession of a phone.

Dear Apple:

Ever heard of USER CONFIGURATION ?

The delay should be up to the user to set or disable, as they wish. For example, neither my 13 year old daughter nor my 90 year old mother want or need the extra hassle.

Thank you.

 

[C DM]

Sometimes it's hard to tell who's more controlling. Apple or the relatively rare government possession of a phone.

Dear Apple:

Ever heard of USER CONFIGURATION ?

The delay should be up to the user to set or disable, as they wish. For example, neither my 13 year old daughter nor my 90 year old mother want or need the extra hassle.

Thank you.

Is entering a passcode about once a week at most, and probably less than that for many, really a hassle?

 

[kdarling]

Is entering a passcode about once a week at most, and probably less than that for many, really a hassle?

If you sleep (or work, with a phone in a locker, or go to school) more than 8 hours, it's every day.

Conversely, perhaps some would like to set the delay to something even shorter.

Hey, they can default to 8 hours if they wish, but come on, make it configurable.

 

[doelcm82]

If you sleep (or work, with a phone in a locker, or go to school) more than 8 hours, it's every day.

Conversely, perhaps some would like to set the delay to something even shorter.

Hey, they can default to 8 hours if they wish, but come on, make it configurable.

No. For the first six days it's 48 hours.