This forum can be used as a case study in paranoia and misinformation. I'm blown away sometimes by the things I read on this forum where you would expect to find tech savvy users. Just wow!!!
Really man?
- There is a record of all your phone calls.
- There is a record of all your messages.
- There is a record of all your emails.
- There is ample data on your buying habbits, app and usage preferences, and personal relations.
- There is a record of all your GPS traces.
- There is a front-facing camera always looking at you.
So all the above is okay, but the fingerprint sensor is where you draw the line? We crossed the privacy line a looooooong time ago.
Incidentally, one of my friends has a peice of duct-tape over the front-facing camera on his iPhone 4S, also out of being paranoid I suspect. The downside is that now his screen doesn't auto-adjust the brightness. Seems just silly to me.
It takes little more than a piece of clear tape to defeat a fingerprint scanner,
You watch too many movies.
An optical fingerprint scanner CAN EASILY be defeated with a piece of tape and a sample of the print. No one specified we were talking about a capacitative fingerprint scanner, which can also be defeated, but requires more effort than most would be willing to go through.
Can you please link us to an experiment that shows that a high-quality scanner can easily be fooled like that? I saw people try that, and fail.
Here's one for starters... http://findbiometrics.com/million-dollar-border-security-machines-fooled-with-ten-cent-tape/
But here's the thing: there ave also been tests that have failed.
From the article:Here's one for starters... http://findbiometrics.com/million-dollar-border-security-machines-fooled-with-ten-cent-tape/
Obviously, not all fingerprint sensors are created equal. The technology described in bold, above, is the technology that Apple acquired.There are many excellent fingerprint scanner that come to mind that are difficult to fool, but personally I would recommend using a fingerprint scanner that uses MSI (multi spectra imaging) that obtains image data from both the surface and subsurface. The capturing of surface and subsurface image data eliminates the problem of damaged, dry, oily, skin and receives fingerprint data not only from the surface but also from the subsurface fingerprint that making fooling the system very difficult if not impossible. I would also recommend the use of palm vein verification along with fingerprinting when a person is deported. Palm vein verification captures the vascular patterns appearing below the surface of the palm.
The most noteworthy public product AuthenTec has is not its run of the mill finger print scanners, but a new "Smart Sensor" that acts as a sophisticated touch pad controller.
While just 13.3mm wide by 3mm high and a scant 1.30 mm thick, the company's first Smart Sensor, announced in May just as Apple began its frantic efforts to buy the firm, packs a 500 pixel per inch, 192x8 pixel detection matrix and all the necessary finger print matching technology and security encryption to serve as a fully self contained finger recognizer.
AuthenTec notes that its "semiconductor-based sensors are based on both capacitive and radio frequency (RF) technology that detects an image of the fingerprint ridge and valley pattern beneath the surface of the skin, thus capturing sharp and clear fingerprint patterns from the live layer. This approach, which is in marked contrast with optical, thermal and other solutions that simply read the surface of the skin, gives AuthenTec sensors significant advantages in image quality and in the protective coatings that the sensor can image through."
Additionally, AuthenTec has developed "anti-spoofing technology" that "dynamically measures the properties of finger skin placed on the sensor while the finger is being scanned. This patented technology ensures that only real fingerprints are read by converting the properties of the skin into digital data which are delivered to the host computer for analysis. AuthenTec anti-spoofing technology then compares the data with expected properties to ensure fingerprint authentication."
The company notes that "because of the approach, anyone who attempts to swipe the finger of a dead person in order to access important physical or logical data would fail."
A touch pad for iOS devices
In addition, AuthenTec's Smart Sensor can also be used to provide touch-based navigation, functioning as a "precise cursor control for text editing," with support for "360 degree mouse navigation," "optical joystick emulation," or as a "unique turbo-scroll feature for rapid browsing of long emails, contact lists or websites," according to public information released by the firm prior to its acquisition.
Apple acquired AuthenTec for its capacitive fingerprint sensor technology. All this talk about decade-old optical scanning technology is irrelevant, because that is not the technology that Apple acquired for its devices. You can't incorporate an optical fingerprint scanner beneath a black home button.An optical fingerprint scanner CAN EASILY be defeated with a piece of tape and a sample of the print. No one specified we were talking about a capacitative fingerprint scanner, which can also be defeated, but requires more effort than most would be willing to go through.
...did you already forget about Prism??? Oh and all the info Apple willingly provided to the government?
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Yeah we crossed the "line" awhile back, so that makes it okay to give MORE information? It's the principle of the matter, but I see you don't care. Your attitude is what is wrong with America today and our lack of privacy.
Seems like a gimmick too me. There's just so many reasons for me it doesn't make sense.
First and most obvious is Apple has never added additional software to the "S" model.
Then you have security reasons. It will need to have a fallback entry method incase the scanner isn't working. A quality sensor relies on moisture and temperature which both are highly effects by the environment. Or if someone else needs to use the phone. Or if your finger gets skinned up. Etc. it will only be as strong as the alternative means aka exactly the same.
Then you'll have people that can't use it. Government employees with certain clearances depending on whether the data is stored locally or not. Also people with big cases especially water proof cases. Since a quality scanner needs direct contact to measure temp and moisture you can pretty much rule them out.
Then you have people that don't use a lock at all. I know a lot of people that don't and have seen a lot of threads about that on here too. There's gonna need to be more then a part they don't use to make them want to upgrade.
Plus, how often have you guys said "Man! Unlocking my phone is such a chore! Of all the amazing things Apple could do I hope they make it easier to unlock!".....I see tons of threads of what people want and never once saw someone wanting a faster way to unlock.
Seems like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist aka a gimmick.
That's my opinion anyway. If its there its there I don't and won't care but I'd prefer anything over that. In the place the scanner hardware is fill it with a larger capacity battery. That would benefit more people then a finger print scanner IMO.
I think the fingerprint scanner is stupid. What if I get kidnapped and my captors want to unlock my new 5S? All they would have to do is grab my finger and put it to the phone and boom, they now have full access to my coveted personal information. However, if I have an iPhone 5 or earlier my kidnappers will not be able to break my mental strength and get me to reveal my complex and uncrackable 4 digit password. No fingerprint scanner for me!!!![]()
Millions of people, myself included, say it every day! Like millions of other iPhone users, I have to type in an 8-12 digit alphanumeric password anywhere from 5 to 20 times each day. Typing in such a password every time you want to unlock your phone to check your email, calendar, contacts, etc. gets old pretty quick, believe me.Plus, how often have you guys said "Man! Unlocking my phone is such a chore! Of all the amazing things Apple could do I hope they make it easier to unlock!".....
I just don't see the point of a scanner. The new iOS phone lock (requiring even after a phone restore the owner to log in with their Apple ID) is more secure than a finger print scanner. If Apple was attempting to make our iPhones our wallets as well then... ok? Businesses are equipped to deal with that yet and I'm not sure how I feel about putting everything into one device.
Per the post above, the AuthenTec sensor requires neither.Since a quality scanner needs direct contact to measure temp and moisture you can pretty much rule them out.
AuthenTec's semiconductor-based sensor uses both capacitive and radio frequency (RF) technology to detect an image of the fingerprint ridge and valley pattern beneath the surface of the skin, thus capturing sharp and clear fingerprint patterns from the live layer. This approach, which is in marked contrast with optical, thermal and other solutions that simply read the surface of the skin, gives AuthenTec sensors significant advantages in image quality and in the protective coatings that the sensor can image through.
Is that really the thing? Seems to me that the test of these systems would be more appropriately measured by the times that pass.
I think the fingerprint scanner is stupid. What if I get kidnapped and my captors want to unlock my new 5S? All they would have to do is grab my finger and put it to the phone and boom, they now have full access to my coveted personal information. However, if I have an iPhone 5 or earlier my kidnappers will not be able to break my mental strength and get me to reveal my complex and uncrackable 4 digit password. No fingerprint scanner for me!!!![]()
Millions of people, myself included, say it every day! Like millions of other iPhone users, I have to type in an 8-12 digit alphanumeric password anywhere from 5 to 20 times each day. Typing in such a password every time you want to unlock your phone to check your email, calendar, contacts, etc. gets old pretty quick, believe me.
If you are a teenager or student, or use only a personal phone, you can use a 4-digit unlock code, or no unlock code. However, millions of iPhone users at corporations and government agencies don't have that option, because their employer doesn't consider such unlock codes adequate. We are forced to enter long alphanumeric passwords until someone comes up with an alternative that meets company/agency requirements for security. For these users, a simple scan to unlock is a killer feature that greatly improves usability.
I can think of no other feature that would have a greater effect on usability.
The typical teenager has no need for a fingerprint sensor because they have little or nothing of value worth protecting. They don't have credit card, investment, and retirement accounts. Some adults are reluctant to store such information on their current iPhone due to security concerns. Apple probably hopes that the fingerprint sensor will address some of those concerns to encourage more users to "put everything into one device," thus further tying those users to the Apple ecosystem.
Additionally, mobile payments haven't taken off in the USA because of concerns over security; a fingerprint reader, or a pin combined with a fingerprint reader, could address those concerns.
Per the post above, the AuthenTec sensor requires neither.
With all the security concerns as of late, I would think twice about having the device I use most throughout my day having a fingerprint scanner. Even if apple didn't sell/give away the information as they might be required to, there is always the possibility of exploits and 3rd parties gaining unauthorized access to your fingerprints. Imagine what the implications of that could be?
Even if the ip5s has a 70mp camera A9 chip and prints money, I won't be getting it if it includes a fingerprint scanner (the option to turn it off wouldn't negate the possibility it could get in the wrong hands).
Yeah we crossed the "line" awhile back, so that makes it okay to give MORE information? It's the principle of the matter, but I see you don't care. Your attitude is what is wrong with America today and our lack of privacy.
Are you a criminal performing illegal activities? If not, what the hell are you worried about?! Quit living your life in paranoia...