Your IT Consultant

Please Use a Password to Lock Your Phone

March 7, 2019

Anybody that has heard Sharon and I do a presentation knows that we are not a fan of biometric locking of your phone. Besides the failures of technology, law enforcement can compel you to unlock your phone with something about you (fingerprint, facial recognition, iris scan, etc.), but not (in the vast majority of jurisdictions) with something you know (PIN or password). Our advice still stands, especially since BGR reported that you can unlock a Samsung Galaxy S10 with a photo. The 2D implementation of facial recognition can’t tell the difference between a photograph or a real person.

Iris scan unlocking is more secure, but the S8 is the last model to have that feature. There are only a few phones that implement 3D facial recognition (iPhone XS series, iPhone XR, iPhone X, Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition, Huawei Mate 20 Pro, and the LG G8 ThinQ), which is better, but still means you can be compelled to unlock your phone with a face. Use a password to unlock your phone and save the biometrics to secure access to the apps.

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