What is the heck state do you live in the takes your thumbprint for a drivers license? That has to be illegal. That's insane. I wouldn't get a drivers license if I had to do that.
It was a sad day to read the local news sites harp on and on about the cost compared to some (unspecified) crappy android phone and sweep Apple's hard earned achievements under the carpet as "obvious" and "incremental" updates.
Apple's implementation of this technology blows everything else completely out of the water. The way it works in any device orientation and is incorporated into the home button means the technology is basically invisible to the user. It requires no conscious effort. Which means it will get used. Which means everyone benefits. This is design for humans not design for marketing departments.
Touch ID eliminates the awkwardness of entering a passcode in a public place where other people can easily look over your shoulder. I almost fell of my bus seat when a drunk passenger prominently held his phone aloft and entered "1337" on the lock screen the other day. How very elite indeed. Android dot-lock screens offer even less security since they broadcast the entire sequence in a convenient visual format. Even if a thief misses that the trail of finger grease could serve as a handy treasure map. What's that...? Your device manufacturer skimped on an oleophobic coating? #Awkward
Seriously? That has to be a violation of privacy rights. Where is the ACLU to sue when you need them to sue on an actual real issue.
Of the five (all very blue) states I've lived in I've never even heard of such a thing.
Back to the iPhone. I don't want a fingerprint reader. I'd likely never use it. I don't use it on my laptops. Of course it won't be perfect, but I'm sure it will work well enough. But the privacy concern is complete BS if you ask me. It's probably one of the least likely things in today's world to violate your privacy.
I must explain this again: the actual fingerprint is not stored, only a hash value that is calculated from the print. This computation is a one way operation. Thus the hash cannot be used to derive the original fingerprint.
That's incorrect. If you know about hashes, then you know that they are not tolerant to small changes, as you would expect as fingerprints aren't read with 100% accuracy. How fingerprint readers work is that they extract a series of features, for example, where ridges end and split. These features are then aligned and compared to the features in the stored template and scored depending on which ones match.
The information between features is discarded so the whole fingerprint image cannot be reconstructed, but the important parts of the fingerprint are stored. Therefore, it's not as "one-way" as you make it to be.
I suspect the Feds are or will be requiring every state to get a fingerprint when your DL is renewed under rules in the Federal Real ID Act. That's what Georgia blames for their somewhat recent fingerprint requirement.
You folks who are so paranoid about your data, just remember that this has been going on for decades. THE PUZZLE PALACE (a best seller about the NSA spying on everything and everybody) was written in the mid-eighties! This horse, as another commenter mentioned, is way out of the barn. In fact it's lapped the field a few dozens time and is headed for Oklahoma. Forget about privacy. It hasn't existed for decades. Just be grateful you're not interesting enough for anyone to bother with.
Dumb a**es! The finger print sensor should have been a build to order option. Now watch some father file a class action law suit against Apple claiming that his daughter was hauling ass from a wild pack of zombies and tried calling to cops while cornered, but the freaking sensor wouldn't pick up her print.. Now the father has to keep his child, who was bitten, in a goddamn cage cause she'e infected, doesn't know him anymore; yet he can't let go. Great move Tim!
I was fingerprinted back in elementary school when the cops visited our school so we could learn about them etc..
Several years back a TV station was doing a story on a new device just acquired by the local police; A new crime-fighting tool that allows the local police to submit fingerprints to a national registry. As part of the story the talking head allowed the police to fingerprint him and send the prints off to the national database.
Well, you can probably guess where this is going. The TV announcer turned out to be wanted in a different jurisdiction and the police arrested him right there on camera. He didn't even get to do his sign off...
I don't much fret about my fingerprints being in a national database because I'm sure they've been there since I enlisted in the military 45 years ago. Of course now they do a DNA test on most people that enter the prison system to compare the DNA against any crime-scene DNA in the database. About a year ago one prisoner's DNA popped up flagged... a closer look at the results indicated it was only a near-match. It seems his brother had left some DNA at a crime scene and had since flew under the radar. So, apparently we are now really "our brother's keeper."
If a person is a good guy, I'm not sure what the concern is, but a whole lot of family members of violent crime victims are happy about how various databases are solving crimes.
Touch ID is pretty intriguing, but I have some serious reservations about the accuracy of this scanner and the ability to last at least 2 years (enough time to get a new phone) of usage.
I look forward to seeing what the reviewers say after the phone is released.
everyone jumping on the NSA bandwagon is getting a bit boring, and it doesn't matter what apple or anyone else says, the paranoid will always think the government is out to get them
LOL, "the paranoid". I think you need to have a perspective and history adjustment. How many governments in all of history could truly be trusted?? That's why America's founders set up such a government as ours -- which has multiple "filters" to keep governmental power in check.
It's people like you who are assisting, and even promoting, the eroding away of individual freedom simply by your perspective.
Placing an over-arching faith in government is dangerous. Only God is worthy of such faith and trust.
… First, a user must enter a passcode to initiate the iPhone 5s' biometric capabilities. As a protection against nefarious users trying to bypass the security measure, only this code can be used to unlock a device after it's been rebooted or has been left unlocked for more than 48 hours …
This is such an obvious flaw. It will almost certainly generate huge amounts of user frustration and many complaints.
The type of person they are intending to use the sensor are those that normally don't use authentication in the first place. So these folks (and I know them well) will put in a passcode to start using the sensor and then immediately forget what it is.
At some point they will leave the phone alone for too long and get locked out. Then the only way back in is to remember that password they put in months or possibly years ago and never had to re-enter. It's a virtual certainty that they won't remember this passcode, and there won't be anything for it but a trip to the Apple store.
Comments
What is the heck state do you live in the takes your thumbprint for a drivers license? That has to be illegal. That's insane. I wouldn't get a drivers license if I had to do that.
People's Republic of California, for one.
It was a sad day to read the local news sites harp on and on about the cost compared to some (unspecified) crappy android phone and sweep Apple's hard earned achievements under the carpet as "obvious" and "incremental" updates.
Apple's implementation of this technology blows everything else completely out of the water. The way it works in any device orientation and is incorporated into the home button means the technology is basically invisible to the user. It requires no conscious effort. Which means it will get used. Which means everyone benefits. This is design for humans not design for marketing departments.
Touch ID eliminates the awkwardness of entering a passcode in a public place where other people can easily look over your shoulder. I almost fell of my bus seat when a drunk passenger prominently held his phone aloft and entered "1337" on the lock screen the other day. How very elite indeed. Android dot-lock screens offer even less security since they broadcast the entire sequence in a convenient visual format. Even if a thief misses that the trail of finger grease could serve as a handy treasure map. What's that...? Your device manufacturer skimped on an oleophobic coating? #Awkward
People's Republic of California, for one.
Seriously? That has to be a violation of privacy rights. Where is the ACLU to sue when you need them to sue on an actual real issue.
Of the five (all very blue) states I've lived in I've never even heard of such a thing.
Back to the iPhone. I don't want a fingerprint reader. I'd likely never use it. I don't use it on my laptops. Of course it won't be perfect, but I'm sure it will work well enough. But the privacy concern is complete BS if you ask me. It's probably one of the least likely things in today's world to violate your privacy.
I must explain this again: the actual fingerprint is not stored, only a hash value that is calculated from the print. This computation is a one way operation. Thus the hash cannot be used to derive the original fingerprint.
That's incorrect. If you know about hashes, then you know that they are not tolerant to small changes, as you would expect as fingerprints aren't read with 100% accuracy. How fingerprint readers work is that they extract a series of features, for example, where ridges end and split. These features are then aligned and compared to the features in the stored template and scored depending on which ones match.
The information between features is discarded so the whole fingerprint image cannot be reconstructed, but the important parts of the fingerprint are stored. Therefore, it's not as "one-way" as you make it to be.
No sweat!
Florida, too.
I was fingerprinted back in elementary school when the cops visited our school so we could learn about them etc..
No access for developers...YET. Read each word in the sentence and you get the actual information of the story.
Now the father has to keep his child, who was bitten, in a goddamn cage cause she'e infected, doesn't know him anymore; yet he can't let go.
Great move Tim!
Several years back a TV station was doing a story on a new device just acquired by the local police; A new crime-fighting tool that allows the local police to submit fingerprints to a national registry. As part of the story the talking head allowed the police to fingerprint him and send the prints off to the national database.
Well, you can probably guess where this is going. The TV announcer turned out to be wanted in a different jurisdiction and the police arrested him right there on camera. He didn't even get to do his sign off...
I don't much fret about my fingerprints being in a national database because I'm sure they've been there since I enlisted in the military 45 years ago. Of course now they do a DNA test on most people that enter the prison system to compare the DNA against any crime-scene DNA in the database. About a year ago one prisoner's DNA popped up flagged... a closer look at the results indicated it was only a near-match. It seems his brother had left some DNA at a crime scene and had since flew under the radar. So, apparently we are now really "our brother's keeper."
If a person is a good guy, I'm not sure what the concern is, but a whole lot of family members of violent crime victims are happy about how various databases are solving crimes.
Damn, you made me wonder if Mr. Happy was imbued with loops or whirls... :no:
It's not a scanner... NOT.
...and yet the media said you voted with your feet???
I look forward to seeing what the reviewers say after the phone is released.
LOL, "the paranoid". I think you need to have a perspective and history adjustment. How many governments in all of history could truly be trusted?? That's why America's founders set up such a government as ours -- which has multiple "filters" to keep governmental power in check.
It's people like you who are assisting, and even promoting, the eroding away of individual freedom simply by your perspective.
Placing an over-arching faith in government is dangerous. Only God is worthy of such faith and trust.
Only God is worthy of such faith and trust.
And I would recommend even keeping on eye on him, the shifty bugger.
… First, a user must enter a passcode to initiate the iPhone 5s' biometric capabilities. As a protection against nefarious users trying to bypass the security measure, only this code can be used to unlock a device after it's been rebooted or has been left unlocked for more than 48 hours …
This is such an obvious flaw. It will almost certainly generate huge amounts of user frustration and many complaints.
The type of person they are intending to use the sensor are those that normally don't use authentication in the first place. So these folks (and I know them well) will put in a passcode to start using the sensor and then immediately forget what it is.
At some point they will leave the phone alone for too long and get locked out. Then the only way back in is to remember that password they put in months or possibly years ago and never had to re-enter. It's a virtual certainty that they won't remember this passcode, and there won't be anything for it but a trip to the Apple store.