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I've become as paranoid as the next guy after the NSA revelations but I still feel its a bit silly to panic so much about the phone fingerprint sensor. Unless it comes to light Apple is flat out lying about the hardware then just don't set it up and let it be.
 
But let's say the Touch ID scanner did save your actual print. The portion that the home button actually scans isn't your full print. Doubt much can be done with that less that 1 cm^2 partial print.
 
No offense, but I think you're a little too paranoid. The data that Touch ID reads from your fingerprint is stored on the A7 SoaC. The only way anyone has any slight chance of getting to it is with a jailbreak tweak, and even then, I don't thing any tweak could get access to inside the chip. Also, if your phone is stolen, chances are the thief is only interested in the device itself and not what's on it.

Jail breaking won't do anything. The print is locked into a piece of hardware.

Unless you can deconstruct the chip (I doubt anyone here has $1 million clean room) without destroying it, then somehow connect to the pin outs (again probably not possible after deconstructing the A7), THEN deciphering the code going in and out of that chip.

OR

Follow the guy to Starbucks and then dust his coffee cup when he throws it away.

Which sounds more feasible guys?
 
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Well you've dismissed the info that prints aren't captured if Touch ID isn't set up so what answer are you looking for op?

If you have this level of mistrust then maybe the only answer for you is to avoid the 5s. Maybe try looking at the 5c.
 
out of curiosity and as we are going into the paranoid arena..

When you restore your phone does it clear your fingerprint data out of the processor...

I would imagine yes since who ever has your phone after has to go through the set up process again..
 
Sorry, I didn't read the whole thread so I don't know if it's been mentioned, but if you really are that paranoid you can always use a stylus.
 
While I'm no quite as paranoid as the OP, this shows a disturbing lack of concern about what type of information companies (and governments) are collecting and what they're using it for. Apple was already collecting location and usage information from users without their knowledge, Google "accidentally" runs sniffing software on their street view vehicles, and Verizon preemptively allowed the NSA full server access for their wireless network.
Do you honestly believe these actions are in the end users best interest? If (and that's a big if, I'm not convinced that's true, but at the same time is certainly within the realm of possibility) Apple is storing fingerprints without user consent, even offline, it's highly troubling and does demand an answer.

If there was 1 piece of information I would be entirely OK with the government having access to, it would be everyone's fingerprints. In fact, I think it would be fantastic for everyone to be fingerprinted. Unsolved crimes would drop drastically. Tons of cases the police find fingerprints but don't have anyone to match it to in the system.
 
I guess for the same reason Apple, Google, Microsoft etc. lied about not cooperating with the NSA.


Did they? I'm not saying you're wrong but genuinley curious. Did they say they didn't cooperate with the NSA?

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Well you've dismissed the info that prints aren't captured if Touch ID isn't set up so what answer are you looking for op?

If you have this level of mistrust then maybe the only answer for you is to avoid the 5s. Maybe try looking at the 5c.

Merely using the internet and having an email account would expose you to massively more risk of being surveilled that having a fingerprinit scanner on your phone. Even if this FP scanner did provide the NSA with a record of your print, I have no idea how they could use it against you. What would they have access to with your fingerprint that they don't already? Even if there is a legitimate answer to that question, would they need you to own a 5s to get your finger print?

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YES, there are people who no longer trust the government or Apple who is cooperating with the government.

It is not like Apple has not misled us and our government has not just plain lied to us. I am not worried as the government got my prints long ago when I got my concealed to carry permit. I still do not trust them.

Apple, Google, Microsoft, AT&T, etc., were compelled to cooperated with the NSA. TO my knowledge we weren't decieved by anyone. Hell, even the NSA's authority to do this was approved in a public vote by the Congress and Senate in 2008 (a bill sponsered buy the two presidential canidates and approved by most elected officials). None of this was a secret and we were not decieved.
 
Tin Foil hat time

Funny how paranoid people can be. If you haven't done anything wrong then why would you concern yourself with this in the least?

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I know exactly how Apple says it works - that's not the issue. Of course it's easier to lift a print if you have physical access to the device. However, once you've figured out how to mass-reproduce prints lifted off the chip (or directly off the reader, which might be easier), it might be possible to get millions of personalized prints while you're sitting in your bedroom in Moscow, for example.

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I'm not sure I fully understand your second question. Fingerprints can be used for many creative purposes (e.g. for incriminating someone) - so I'm just not particularly keen on giving them to the circles that might need to incriminate someone else in order to cover up crimes etc. That's probably a bit far-fetched and not very realistic. I'm more worried about what fingerprints will be used for in the future (e.g. getting money from the ATM).

Passwords can be changed, your fingerprint can't. Once it's out in the wild, the uses are manyfold and the damage is done - so it should be in everyone's best interest to make sure that doesn't happen. Considering that the iPhone's security system isn't exactly government-grade, I'd say entrusting a gadget with your prints is just a bit careless, no matter how good its manufacturer's intents are.

LOL, ok stop responding to this guy. He's clearly not that paranoid and is just trying to troll over the scanner. With the 1000000 otherways to get a print from someone I think hacking into an iphone wouldn't be at the top of anyone's list.
 
Or just use your thumbnail to work the home button...I never place my entire thumb precisely over the home button...its not a natural motion.
 
If there was 1 piece of information I would be entirely OK with the government having access to, it would be everyone's fingerprints. In fact, I think it would be fantastic for everyone to be fingerprinted. Unsolved crimes would drop drastically. Tons of cases the police find fingerprints but don't have anyone to match it to in the system.

The onus is not on me as a law abiding citizen to give up personal information to the police so that they can do their job. I mean, why not allow the police to track your location without a warrant? Or maybe monitor all your calls? See all the websites you go to? How about a tracking device on your car, cameras in your house and a registration when you buy a cup of coffee? So of us value our rights more than others and won't slide into that cesspool without a fight.

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Funny how paranoid people can be. If you haven't done anything wrong then why would you concern yourself with this in the least?

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LOL, ok stop responding to this guy. He's clearly not that paranoid and is just trying to troll over the scanner. With the 1000000 otherways to get a print from someone I think hacking into an iphone wouldn't be at the top of anyone's list.

Considering we live in a country where people are regularly stopped, detained and killed when they've done nothing wrong, I can only assume that this is a joke.
 
Watch the Charlie Rose - Larry Ellison interview.

At one point Ellison was asked about privacy. Ellison: VISA already knows everything about you.

Too late! ;)
 
Is it true you can make a whole tinfoil suit with costco foil?? Inc hat and shoes... The roll is like that big!
 
Merely using the internet and having an email account would expose you to massively more risk of being surveilled that having a fingerprinit scanner on your phone.

all this worry about fingerprints is silly when every single phone call results in a cell phone company logging not only which towers your call started on and ended on, but also which antenna on that tower your phone was connected to at the start/end of each call. Happens for both incoming and outbound.

Make a series of calls and you leave a breadcrumb trace of your approximate location through the sequence of calls. No GPS or smartphone needed, this happens on the carrier end. Plus they keep the data; the trial was over two years after the event.

Plus, in certain circumstances the police can have the cell carriers ping your phone, returning its GPS location on a near-real-time basis. (this was used to locate the suspect/defendant despite him being two states away)
 
I've become as paranoid as the next guy after the NSA revelations

I think that's the big problem - the "next guy" doesn't care. I don't really care as long as it's not my data that's being abused, but I find it somewhat troubling nevertheless just how careless some people seem to be. The US used to fight communism, now you guys have homeland spying programs that far exceed what the Stasi did in East Germany. And now you're ready to trust some gadget maker with your biometric data. I might have become paranoid to some degree when it comes to my personal data but your carelessness will most certainly bite you in the butt some day.
 
The onus is not on me as a law abiding citizen to give up personal information to the police so that they can do their job. I mean, why not allow the police to track your location without a warrant? Or maybe monitor all your calls? See all the websites you go to? How about a tracking device on your car, cameras in your house and a registration when you buy a cup of coffee? So of us value our rights more than others and won't slide into that cesspool without a fight.

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Considering we live in a country where people are regularly stopped, detained and killed when they've done nothing wrong, I can only assume that this is a joke.

The difference is that the government having your fingerprint has no detriment to you. Millions of people are fingerprinted already. There isn't any abuse by the government with their fingerprints.
 
I knew a guy that refused to have his fingerprints scanned for a timeclock because he had done some, um, less than "legal" things in the past and was concerned that somehow his prints might end up connecting the dots.

I can TOTALLY see criminals and/or people with tinfoil hats being terrified of the Touch ID. Given Apple's history of protecting our privacy and the boundless love of the Patriot Act, if I had committed a crime in the past and had not been caught I sure as heck wouldn't...

All boils down to how paranoid you are, but if prison and a 300lb man named Sindy cuddling you at night are involved I can sorta get the concern.

It's not about someone LOOKING to get your prints. If they knew where to look, they'd be easy enough to get (doorknob, car door, etc.). It's the "A-Ha", "Gotcha!" moments the criminals are trying to avoid that make the Touch ID oh so fun!

Bottom line: If you have a valid reason to hide your prints, do you trust Apple to safeguard that, especially when the NSA comes and says "hey Apple, we hear you got a nice database of fingerprints with no presumption of privacy there... mind if we take a look?"

But ya, I'm sure they don't keep that data... ask Snowden :rolleyes:
 
I knew a guy that refused to have his fingerprints scanned for a timeclock because he had done some, um, less than "legal" things in the past and was concerned that somehow his prints might end up connecting the dots.

I can TOTALLY see criminals and/or people with tinfoil hats being terrified of the Touch ID. Given Apple's history of protecting our privacy and the boundless love of the Patriot Act, if I had committed a crime in the past and had not been caught I sure as heck wouldn't...

All boils down to how paranoid you are, but if prison and a 300lb man named Sindy cuddling you at night are involved I can sorta get the concern.

It's not about someone LOOKING to get your prints. If they knew where to look, they'd be easy enough to get (doorknob, car door, etc.). It's the "A-Ha", "Gotcha!" moments the criminals are trying to avoid that make the Touch ID oh so fun!

Bottom line: If you have a valid reason to hide your prints, do you trust Apple to safeguard that, especially when the NSA comes and says "hey Apple, we hear you got a nice database of fingerprints with no presumption of privacy there... mind if we take a look?"

But ya, I'm sure they don't keep that data... ask Snowden :rolleyes:

If Apple lied about fingerprints being stored somewhere other than on the specific phone itself, they'd be liable for some pretty bad lawsuits.

If they were planning on storing the fingerprints, they would have just made no comment to protect themselves.
 
But ya, I'm sure they don't keep that data... ask Snowden :rolleyes:

Well, as far as I know I'm not a criminal. I simply don't believe Apple is capable of keeping my biometric data safe from actual criminals.

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If Apple lied about fingerprints being stored somewhere other than on the specific phone itself, they'd be liable for some pretty bad lawsuits.

If they were planning on storing the fingerprints, they would have just made no comment to protect themselves.

I don't think Apple is purposefully endangering the safety of our data but I also don't think that a thing like data safety in networked devices actually exists. I've yet to come along an online system that is actually impenetrable.
 
Double-crossed?

What if Apple already had finger print sensors in the previous models and scanned your finger print?* It doesn't have to have a visible ring around it.

Then, now all the people not scanning their's now, when they're told to have a Touch ID, will be under special suspicion. :D

-drsoong

* Which is actually never stored as others rightly pointed out.
 
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funny-iphone-5s-meme.jpg
 
What if Apple already had finger print sensors in the previous models and scanned your finger print?* It doesn't have to have a visible ring around it.

Then, now all the people not scanning theirs now, when they're told to have a Touch ID, will be under special suspicion. :D

-drsoong

* Which is actually never stored as others pointed rightly out.

Would have been seen when the phone is broken down by companies to release full internal information
 
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