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You take off your glove, and use the fingerprint reader. Simple.

Ever notice how the touchscreen on the iPhone doesn't work when you wear gloves? It was designed for use by the skin of your fingers...

Mine always worked with gloves.
 
I'm also interested in this quote from the video about the sapphire "..acting as a lens to precisely focus it on your finger..". The RF is applied to the finger via the steel ring and then the variation in capacitance of the finger features are picked up by the sensor, if I understand correctly. I'm not sure where any lens/focusing is happening. It does appear to be a totally flat sapphire crystal "window", also.

The ring doesn't apply anything to the finger, it is just used as a "switch" to enable the sensor. The sensor then reads the fingerprint at that point.

But since the whole thing is capacitive, there's nothing really to focus. The frequencies for any RF being emitted by the capacitive grid are too low. Optical lenses can't focus them.
 
Either way, no matter how tricky the sensor is, people can be trickier. Biometrics are not suitable for primary authentication.

How so, and what do you propose as a better alternative? To me it seems every bit as secure as a pass word but more convenient, which probably will make more people use it.
 
How so, and what do you propose as a better alternative? To me it seems every bit as secure as a pass word but more convenient, which probably will make more people use it.

Anything secret; biometrics are not.
 
I am getting a kick out of all the mugging, finger chopping scenarios. Most thefts are likely grab and run. And for those where getting into the phone is critical, my guess is putting a gun to someone's head and asking for the pass code (if not using the scanner), will likely work as well. The pass code is no more secure. Further, one can now lock up and wipe their phone, making it unsellable.
 
So you have nothing specific in mind, well it's better than nothing I think we can agree on. :p

There are innumerable kinds of secrets. To name a few: a secret series of letters, numbers, and symbols, or perhaps a secret way of touching your phone, or a secret noise, etc. It doesn't really matter what it is (given that the device can sense it), so long as it requires knowledge only the user has.
 
Oh Apple, why would you blunder so? Fingerprints are not passwords, let alone the perfect password. Touch ID -- identification -- yes, fantastic. Authentication? No. Everything you touch now has your "secret" password on it, and it bears mentioning that changing such a password is... difficult.

Why would one need to change a password when using a fingerprint sensor? :confused:
 
There are innumerable kinds of secrets. To name a few: a secret series of letters, numbers, and symbols, or perhaps a secret way of touching your phone, or a secret noise, etc. It doesn't really matter what it is (given that the device can sense it), so long as it requires knowledge only the user has.

Complicated procedures leads to simple pass words like 1234 or no pass word at all which we were told represented about half of the iPhones. A security measure needs to be adapted to what is protected, for example it makes no sense to spend $100 to protect $10.
 
They didn't show it, but does anyone know if you'll be able to authenticate your iCloud Keychain with your fingerprint? I had assumed this was a given when they introduced the feature, but nobody has mentioned it that I've seen.

I was thinking the same thing. I assume it is just a matter of time before this is added in.

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The fact that they aren't opening access to the scanning for 3rd party developers is stupid. How nice it would have been to be able to have this feature replace passwords for a multitude of apps at launch.

Can't see the logic in that decision.

Maybe it's a security issue, i.e. Apple don't trust third-party apps not to share that sensitive information. So what I think will happen is Apple will need to develop an API that lets third parties use the authentication mechanism without actually getting access to any of the fingerprint sensor data. But to develop that API takes time and will probably be a feature for iOS 8 (along with allowing iCloud Keychain access, though for that one maybe we'll see it in a point update). We know they were already rushing to finish iOS 7 as it is, pulling people off people from the OS X team, and trying to get the iPad version of iOS ready in time. Some speculated the iPad version would be delayed. So the best hypothesis is they didn't have time.
 
Jealousy is a byproduct of fear and insecurity. You can have lust and desire without jealousy, provided you are confident and secure.

Extreme jealousy is a byproduct of fear and insecurity. The kind of jealousy that disrupts your life and the lives of the people you claim to love. We can't always feel confident and secure with our lives and loves. Life would be boring and predictable if we were. That's the last thing a couple needs after a few years of marriage. Let's face it, a lot of married couples stay together mainly for the sake of their children. At least that's what some studies have shown.
 
No, they didn't as far as I know. I don't think this type of sensor can detect either pulse or temperature. An optical, infrared type could possibly do both. Could it be tuned/focused differently to pickup slight variations in position due to a person's pulse?

Pulse and heat detectors don't work when the finger is cold and the blood has withdrawn, anyway.

Instead, AuthenTec patented a couple of different spoof detectors. One is a skin impedance checker (still spoofable) and the other looks for too large a variation in overall variable detection parameters for the particular user.

I'm dubious of the sensor being 3D, as stated previously in this thread. Taking a gander at patents and reading press articles, it seems the sensor is 500 pixels per sq inch-- going by the size of my IPhone 5's button, that'd be something like 16x16 pixles.

It's 500 DPI, which is 250,000 antenna sensors per square inch. Edit: 500 DPI is the NIST and FBI standard for fingerprint capture and recognition.

By "3D", I think people were referring to the fact that it measures a bit below the skin surface. See diagram below.

The ring doesn't apply anything to the finger, it is just used as a "switch" to enable the sensor. The sensor then reads the fingerprint at that point.

That's what Apple's website says, but if it's an RF sensor, then the ring is almost certainly the transmitter, so of course touching it would trigger a response in the central sensor.

rf_finger_sensor.png

Complicated procedures leads to simple pass words like 1234 or no pass word at all which we were told represented about half of the iPhones. A security measure needs to be adapted to what is protected, for example it makes no sense to spend $100 to protect $10.

Something I didn't see mentioned is what happens if it cannot read your finger, or if you choose swipe to unlock. I would guess you can alternatively use your PIN.

If so, then the reader is just a convenience item, not a real security feature... and people can still goof up by using 1234 as a PIN :)
 
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The ring doesn't apply anything to the finger, it is just used as a "switch" to enable the sensor. The sensor then reads the fingerprint at that point.

But since the whole thing is capacitive, there's nothing really to focus. The frequencies for any RF being emitted by the capacitive grid are too low. Optical lenses can't focus them.

I don't think that is correct. Look at the original patents from AuthenTec.

In nearly all RF field sensors, a ring disposed around the sensor array acts as the electrode that drives the low frequency RF signal into the finger, which is attenuated by ridges and valleys in the print and finally captured by AC sensors as a high quality image.

Why would they have had to add a stainless steel ring to the phone if it was just a switch to tell the sensor to turn on? Makes zero sense.
 
Well. If you guys worried that your finger getting chopped off, why not just don't use the fingerprint?

I had an Acer laptop who has fingerprint sensor which I don't even bother to install.
 
This worries me. One day Apple will be forced to upload and send fingerprint data to our government to track citizens and terrorists.
 
The potential problem is that for a thief to access - and sell - the phone, they require your finger. So now they'll need more than just your phone!

And your password and Id for iCloud and a way to make sure you don't have time to change them before he does, assuming he even considers that you turned on activation lock.
 
If somebody chops off your finger, can they use it to unlock your iPhone? :eek:

That is not a joke but a serious question.

I have been involved with the development of enterprise fingerprint access scanners. Installations were mostly buildings or wings of buildings for restricted access. Demographically, a lot of there installations are in "developing" countries where they don't trust lower class individuals with keys be it mechanical or electronic. Many workers have sold keys they were given for more than the job they are working in the facility.

But yes, there have been situations where fingers have been cut off with sheers for unauthorized access to a facility. I don't know of any domestic US cases but it has happened in South American countries. Issue is that unless keep the finger refrigerated or frozen, the flesh undergoes necrosis where the fingerprint deforms and the minutiae point pattern does not match that of the living finger.

IMO, we are going to see less than expected adoption of this fingerprint access. Also, I'm sure some bastards will start-up urban legends about fingers cut off by attackers to access an iPhone. I'm not planning to use the fingerprint scanner at all and keep with the PIN codes.

Also, the solution that has a lot better approach is a Bluetooth 4.0 key fob like the Unikey Kevo and the Proximo. Let them rip off your iPhone. If they didn't get the fob elsewhere on you, can't get access.

Biometrics such as fingerprint scanning is a very double edged sword. The question to keep on asking is was your body intended to have that function?
 
So what happens if you need to wear gloves? (skiing, hospital or factory/fab clean room, etc.)

You use a standard passcode if your job requires gloves.

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The fact that they aren't opening access to the scanning for 3rd party developers is stupid.

Right now. Best to get the bugs out before they start creating profiles, letting other apps use it etc.

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Right now criminals can simply threaten you to give up your typed password and there you go. What they can't do with the detector is use your phone if they simply steal it or you lose it somehow. iPhone thefts may go way down.

I would love to see stats on how many stolen phones are muggings versus grabbed out of hands, pickpockets, snatched off tables or out of cars
 
Good.....

thieves deterrent.....better than that?....A small electrical discharge when unauthorized people intends to access your iPhone.....:D


:):apple:
 
I'm hoping that thieves won't go to the extreme of finger chopping. After all, right now if your phone is password/code protected they usually just plug it into iTunes and reset. Why deal with the hassle of cutting off someone's finger?

On a potentially more realistic scenario - several years ago, I was involved in a skiing accident where I nearly destroyed my right hand. It was banadaged for nearly two months. I realize that one can put many fingerprints into the iPhone so that the left or right thumb, fingers, etc can be used. My question is this - suppose I run into a scenario where my fingerprint is not available. Like the bandage situation. Will there be a backup way to enter a password or pass code? I saw on the video that when in iTunes it said "scan fingerprint" but there was also an option to enter password. Will this be available for phone unlocking as well?
 
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