U.S. Senator Raises Questions About Security and Privacy of Face ID

[ani4ani]

Much of this has already been addressed. In terms of law enforcement, what stops them is the law and what they are legally able to do, as well as you using the Emergency SOS (five-tap of the side button) or powering off the phone, which requires the passcode - FaceID won't suffice. In terms of continuously scanning for a matching face, it has already been identified by Apple that it will scan twice and that is it - after that the passcode is required. It seems hard to believe that anyone would believe that Apple (creators of the TouchID) wouldn't think of these things.

But yes, if you let someone take your phone, hold it up to your face, and you keep your eyes open, they could unlock it. Of course, if they grabbed your finger and put it on the phone, they could unlock it too....

I think you are missing the point

You would likely know if someone was trying to press your finger on your phone, not so much if someone was holding a phone nearby, but close enough to register.

Exactly, after two tries to recognise a face, the password is needed, and hence my point as an owner of said device in a crowded area am I going to be constantly having to insert my password every time I try and use my phone?

As for what Apple think about and considering every scenario I guess they thought SIRI, and maps and the way we hold our phone were never going to have issues?

 

[blackcrayon]

This will be a terrible method for those who have disabilities and facial damage...

As Touch ID would be "terrible" for those without digits with fingerprints. That's why you can still use a passcode.

That just made me curious- you can use Voiceover to unlock your phone with a passcode even if you're blind.

 

[Fozziebear71]

How this guy ever became a Senator is still beyond my understanding. What an idiot.

 

[johnnygee]

They're storing your data right now, Senator...

 

[BoxerGT2.5]

Good thing Stuart Smalley is on the case.

 

[jeremiah256]

“...lack of diversity in the faces...”

Of course he said that. *eyes roll*

Companies have had issues when they haven't used a broad range of images to calibrate their software. You can also look up problems Kodak, Google, and Facebook have had. Luckily, better Machine Learning techniques, reputation, and profits are helping to address these problems.

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

Every time Franken has to question security on everything Apple does. Every time. He's a great guy but seems to waste his energy on this each time.

Franken questioned the security of:

Apple Pay
Touch ID
Siri
iOS 4
Location Services

If you check his K Street political donors, you'll likely find the answer to your question. Obviously, Apple is not donating enough money to his campaign or causes. I'd bet money that Samsung or Nokia or the Chinese cell phone companies are.

 

[carrrrrlos]

As people said about the iPhone 3, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, etc. etc.
I'm not sure what you think is missing on the X, but Apple may not share your vision, so you may not want to hold your breath.

Understood, but the notch in the “edge to edge” screen for the camera, earpiece, etc. is just a design flaw. Not all design is great design, even for Apple. Why they chose not to have the screen lead up to 6-7mm (or whatever the distance is of the notch) to the top edge for a more clean cut-off - like the Samsung Edge - is a mistake. Will developers have to make they apps specifically for this protrusion (Made for iPad, Made for iPhone 7, 7s, 8, 8s, Made for iPhone X)?
To me there is no logical reasoning behind the decision, other than they didn’t want to look like the other edge to edge mobile phones that beat them to the market.

 

[cyberlocke]

As they usually do. Does anything ever happen with these "raised concerns" of new tech? I mean, does it motivate any improvements or change? Or is it just someone's opinion?

 

[LizKat]

Someone needs to explain to Franken how serious the Equifax breech is and why it is a better use of his time.

Only if there are some guys in a Senate cloakroam like there was with healthcare, but this time writing code for a joint resolution to put those equifax characters in jail.

At some pont we have to stop kidding ourselves with these data breaches.

Either a lot of them are inside jobs, or else a whole shedload of companies have been entirely and demonstrably negligible in not giving a damn about their allegedly "secure" databases.

One or the other, because it's not THAT hard to cause a breach to leave at least a few breadcrumbs.

And after awhile there's marginal utility in sitting around hoping whatever authorities are hoping when a breach is discovered at end July, say, and the public finds out about it only in mid-september... .and it happened in fricken May?!

 

[AdonisSMU]

Understood, but the notch in the “edge to edge” screen for the camera, earpiece, etc. is just a design flaw. Not all design is great design, even for Apple. Why they chose not to have the screen lead up to 6-7mm (or whatever the distance is of the notch) to the top edge for a more clean cut-off - like the Samsung Edge - is a mistake. Will developers have to make they apps specifically for this protrusion (Made for iPad, Made for iPhone 7, 7s, 8, 8s, Made for iPhone X)?
To me there is no logical reasoning behind the decision, other than they didn’t want to look like the other edge to edge mobile phones that beat them to the market.

Umm Samsung has two notches one on top and bottom. Its more symmetrical but its there.

 

[mariusignorello]

Companies have had issues when they haven't used a broad range of images to calibrate their software. You can also look up problems Kodak, Google, and Facebook have had. Luckily, better Machine Learning techniques, reputation, and profits are helping to address these problems.

I don’t Apple will have this kind of
problem knowing their commitment to diversity.

 

[vannibombonato]

I thought we had stupid politicians down here, but boy, does this senator make monumentally stupid questions.

 

[jacobh101]

Comments like this sometimes make me think there should be a basic knowledge test before people are allowed to post on the internet.

No, Google does not sell our personal info. If they did, they'd soon have nothing of value left. What they do, is sell anonymous ad slots.

Should've clarified, personal info was a bit harsh - so no they don't sell your personal information - like; date of birth, credit card info, address, friends, etc...They do however, sell your anonymized behaviors; what you like, where you have been, where you go, what you search, your taste, your preferences, etc...

 

[mi7chy]

Seems like a valid question. Not only did Face ID fail on stage but it's also about 1,400x weaker than iris scanner.

 

[macsba]

The keynote also showed that the parallel universe Spock with a beard can use Spock iPhone communicator so Spock would need to create a 5 digit passcode in those situations.

THAT, was the fun part of the presentation.

 

[J.Dillinger]

Curious, did Mr. Franken ask these questions of other smartphone manufacturers?

 

[Swift]

All good questions. The public needs those fears removed. Explain, Tim. Demonstrate.

 

[2010mini]

The government is suddenly worried about protecting our privacy? Maybe they should look at how they invade the privacy of citizens every day.

The government doesn’t need to invade privacy. Most of us freely give up tonnes of Information on social media everyday.

 

[Swift]

Needs to make these questions to Google, Samsung and most importantly Huawei. Think that any of them would even respond? Not likely.

I'd hold hearings. Sen. Franken is in the minority, but maybe they could call Apple, Samsung, etc., for testimony.

 

[Rocketman]

Franken asks Tim Cook to respond to all of his Face ID questions by October 13, 2017. Apple is not obligated to respond as this is not a subpoena, but the company will likely cooperate with the request for information.

Cook is an obvious Democrat and he has Al Gore on the board. He will reply despite it not being in shareholder interest.

 

[Cineplex]

Comments like this sometimes make me think there should be a basic knowledge test before people are allowed to post on the internet.

No, Google does not sell our personal info. If they did, they'd soon have nothing of value left. What they do, is sell anonymous ad slots.

LOL! Yes they sell very highly targeted anonymous ads that build very traceable paths to the owner. Perhaps YOU should do some more research on the subject before you knock others. Googles data has been proven to be able to link back to an individual with some work. Google holds some VERY personal data about people. Do yourself a favor and Google it.....if you dare. More productive than insulting others.

 

[jeremiah256]

I don’t Apple will have this kind of
problem knowing their commitment to diversity.

Agree. And most of the other issues were not due to any deliberate malice, just oversights.

 

[Rocketman]

Comments like this sometimes make me think there should be a basic knowledge test before people are allowed to post on the internet.

Al did invent the internet, after all, so he has a pass. Like Linus and the Netscape guy and the Woz.

 

[shyam09]