View Full Version : iPhone 5 / print recognition ?????
The new iPhone has "print recognition" software for ID purposes (supposedly:).
Anyone know WHERE the print data is stored, i.e., in the phone or in a "central" location. OTOH - with the fact that NSA and the gang have cracked most encryptions - I guess it really doesn't matter, does it:)
john
As many times as I've personally been fingerprinted, they could store it on a 4x8 sheet of white plastic in the Macy's front window for all I care.
But...
From what I've heard, it's stored on the phone. Which still means NOTHING as an assurance of privacy.
Belmont31R
09-12-13, 08:42
It's stored on the phone, and you don't have to use it. This is also not being used for 3rd party apps.
I suspect a lot of us here have been finger printed a few times.
Also, most people are on contracted plans where you have to give them your SSN. Every phone on that plan can already be tied to a SSN.
...
I suspect a lot of us here have been finger printed a few times...
A couple gov't agencies, a couple law enforcement agencies...oh, and The Hague. (it's comforting to know my info is stored somewhere across the pond)
Our 'group' had to agree to have our 'info' submitted to The Hague prior to escorting an individual to a mass grave site....ICTY proceedings and all that.
MountainRaven
09-12-13, 09:23
I would be willing to bet that the majority of members here already have their fingerprints on file with at least one government agency if not many and, therefore, already available to the Federal government.
Once you remove the military members, the LE members, most members with suppressors and/or SBRs, and the vast majority of concealed weapons permit holding members (plus however many FOID-holding members behind enemy lines)... how many members of this site are left? Those are the only ones who are getting their fingerprints added to the Federal Invisible Empire's database. (Obviously, this doesn't include people who are not members of this site and therefore the vast majority of Americans who fall under none of the aforementioned groups.)
Cool tech for sure. But Apple being in bed with the gov doesn't give me warm and fuzzy feelings. Kinda like the eventual proliferation and utilization of facebooks facial recognition software by .gov entities. Abuse is inevitable no matter how well intentioned its use may be.
Maybe I'm tinfoiling.. . (yes I just made that a verb :p)
Belmont31R
09-12-13, 09:40
Cool tech for sure. But Apple being in bed with the gov doesn't give me warm and fuzzy feelings. Kinda like the eventual proliferation and utilization of facebooks facial recognition software by .gov entities. Abuse is inevitable no matter how well intentioned its use may be.
Maybe I'm tinfoiling.. . (yes I just made that a verb :p)
How is Apple in bed with the gov?
How is Apple in bed with the gov?
Like all US based corporations: At gunpoint.
Any company that does business in the US has to comply with the laws, including double secret National Security letters that you aren't allow to talk about.
H
Belmont31R
09-12-13, 09:47
Like all US based corporations: At gunpoint.
Any company that does business in the US has to comply with the laws, including double secret National Security letters that you aren't allow to talk about.
H
Well yeah to an extent. But they aren't giving over info without threats.
Yahoo's CEO has come out and said they'd face jail time for revealing NSA requests. These companies don't have a lot of options here.
I think it is pretty safe to say that given everything that has come out scandal wise in the last few months the people pulling the strings and calling the shots on this stuff have their counterparts in the gov and vice versa on speed deal.
ETA - and I'm not this optimistic lol
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/biometric_scanners/
Biometric Scanners
Sep 12, 2013 General Nonsense | Notify
Apple's new iPhone will have a fingerprint reader on the home button for security.
Imagine if the government required fingerprint scanners on any new phone sold after a certain date. And then imagine the government requiring phone companies to phase out service to any cell phone that doesn't have a fingerprint sensor.
Now imagine that your phone becomes your only wallet and only means of paying for stuff. That seems likely at some point. The government won't print cash forever, and credit cards are redundant with your phone.
What would that world look like?
For starters, it would be the end of a lot of crime. The government would know who was doing what and where it was happening. There would be no such thing as committing a crime and going on the run unless you had friends buying you food and necessities with their own phones. And even then the government could detect who your friends and family are and look for spikes in their food-buying patterns.
As I've written before, the apps and services that would be possible in a world where people have no privacy would be incredible. Life is mostly about moving people and things from wherever they happen to be to where they could better be used. When all the people and products in the world have a location and a history that is known to all, life could become almost magical. Your hotel room would adjust its temperature to your preferences before you finished checking in at the lobby. Every car on the road would have multiple passengers, cutting traffic and commute times in half. And those cars will drive themselves. When you approach any computer screen, your phone will act as the brains and bring up your home screen.
So that part is all good.
The only downside is that the government in such a world would have complete control over the people.
That's a large downside.
But by then the government might have the highest approval rating of all time simply because life is so pleasant and the economy would be turbo-charged by all the new possibilities that come out of knowing where everyone is and what they want.
I'm an optimist, so I wonder if there is any future technology that will help citizens control their governments and neutralize the risks that stem from a total loss of privacy.
I think there is.
For starters, the government could make it illegal to campaign in any fashion but on the Internet, which would be free to any legitimate candidate. The process would involve local candidates winning in their own towns, even if they are running for national office, before competing in, for example, a county-wide election and then statewide and finally national. By the time the election reaches the national level, the number of candidates would be down to a handful. And no campaign money would have tainted the process.
Then I'd want more transparency on the workings of government itself. So let's say government officials are required by law to hold work-related meeting in rooms that are wired to record everything happening. Every meeting would be encrypted and stored on government servers. One would still need a court order and a good reason to view any recordings, but I have to think it would keep most politicians from doing anything too outrageous. Even their phone calls would be recorded.
People could still meet in person to collude and scheme. But in today's world I think that would seem like too much trouble. Ninety percent of government corruption would disappear overnight if all government conversations were recorded.
If public oversight of the government stays as is, it would be risky for citizens to give up too much privacy in return for a better economy and richer life. But if technology allows citizens to better monitor their elected representatives, perhaps that restores the balance of power.
The question of the day is this: If the government said it would record all of its own conversations, would you be okay with a law requiring fingerprint scanners on all future phones and a phase-out of cash and physical credit cards over time? Let's say it's a ten year plan.
I am a developer for Apple, and I can tell you that third party companies have zero access to the data. This would be SO HANDY just for banking software, rather than having to enter my current massive alphanumeric passwords laced with symbols.
Oddly enough, with as much as I have been fingerprinted, I couldn't care less about the data being stored on the phone. It's locked away in a separate memory partition that's only accessible by the TouchID software.
I just wish that they would open it up to specific entities who can certify a specific level of security. Like my bank...
http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/adN7wo9_700b_v4.jpg
Gutshot John
09-12-13, 23:36
Don't buy one.
Problem solved.
SilverBullet432
09-13-13, 00:25
im sure this feature, just like the number lock, can be disabled? i dont have my phone locked, so i never use those features. (iphone5)
im sure this feature, just like the number lock, can be disabled? i dont have my phone locked, so i never use those features. (iphone5)
http://www.macrumors.com/2013/09/10/more-details-on-how-the-touch-id-fingerprint-sensor-works/
Rattlehead
09-13-13, 00:54
Don't buy one.
Problem solved.
Exactly.
SpeedRacer
09-13-13, 01:00
If it's a tool they can use, regardless how benevolent it was designed, they will find a way to use it at some point. While I don't see any immediate threat from them gathering a fingerprint most of us already have on file, I could see it being used as a form of evidence of activity on your phone. In other words, you do something that gets their attention, there's no "that wasn't me using my phone" defense when an access log shows your fingerprint.
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