Hacker News Reader

Comment by skc | Hacker News Reader

I'm wondering if it's easier or harder for cops to forcefully unlock your phone using faceID or touchID

Cuff someone, pull their phone out of their pocket, hold it in front of their face. "Is this your phone? Oh, it looks like it is..."

How's that Fifth Amendment thing working out for you?

EDIT: There's legal precedent that specifically says you can be compelled to unlock your phone with your fingerprint, and that's not "testimonial" (that is, your right against self-incrimination isn't in play). There is zero reason to think FaceID will be treated any differently.

Couldn't they do the exact same thing with your fingerprint?

Yes. FaceID just makes it easier, which was the OP's question.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/17/16161758/ios-11-touch-id-...

Interesting twist. There was advice going around for protestors to disable Touch ID as cops need a warrant for a keycode, but don't for a touch ID. Not sure how accurate that is, but presumably you can disable Face ID if you think you're at risk of being shaken down by the police.

iOS 11 comes with a nice feature to temporarily disable Face and Touch ID if you're ever in this type of situation. Tap the power button 5 times and that's it.

Yes but reaching for your phone can be lethal at least in the US.

This actually raises an interesting question. I say it's easier to do it since there appears on the surface to be less opportunity to mess up as with touch. Sure you could make a face etc but that just seems easier to do in stealth (not seen by cops as doing so) with a finger. [1]

Edit: As only one example you could in theory program a finger that wouldn't typically be used with touch id.

Given that it requires "attention" to unlock it seems like it would be HARDER to force this than TouchID.

Just look away or close your eyes.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com