Even Senator Al Franken is worried about iPhone X's Face ID

产品中心 2024-09-22 01:18:21 77561

The iPhone X is finally here, and with it comes a host of new features that Apple promises herald the arrival of "the future."

But could that future be rife with privacy violations and potential for abuse? It's a question that Sen. Al Franken intends to get to the bottom of, and on Wednesday, he fired off a letter to the tech giant to get the investigative ball rolling.

At issue is Face ID, a replacement for Touch ID that scans a smartphone owner's face in order to unlock the device or authenticate Apple Pay. Experts have expressed concerns that the technology could be a step backward for device security, as well as a potential move toward a privately owned database of facial biometric data.

SEE ALSO:Why the iPhone X's facial recognition could be a privacy disaster

In the letter, addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Franken gets right to the heart of the matter. While acknowledging the security steps the company says it has taken to secure locally stored data, he asks what we're all thinking: What about the future?


Prime Day deals you can shop right now

Products available for purchase here through affiliate links are selected by our merchandising team. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.
  • Shark RV2310 Matrix Vacuum With Self-Cleaning Brushroll—$179.99(List Price $299.99)

  • Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 10.9" 64GB Wi-Fi Tablet—$142.49(List Price $219.99)

  • Apple AirPods With Wired Charging Case (2nd Gen)—$69.00(List Price $129.00)

  • Fitbit Charge 6 Fitness Tracker With 6-Months Membership—$99.95(List Price $159.95)

  • Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS, 41mm, Midnight, S/M, Sports Band)—$279.99(List Price $399.00)


"Apple has stated that all faceprint data will be stored locally on an individual's device as opposed to being sent to the cloud," writes Franken. "Is it currently possible — either remotely or through physical access to the device — for either Apple or a third party to extract and obtain usable faceprint data from the iPhone X?"

But that's not all. The Democratic senator from Minnesota addresses the worry that Face ID might discriminate against people of color.

Mashable Light SpeedWant more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories?Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter.By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Thanks for signing up!

"[It] has previously been reported that many facial recognition systems have a higher rate of error when tested for accuracy in identifying people of color, which may be explained by variety of factors, including a lack of diversity in the faces that were used to train a system," he continues. "What steps did Apple take to ensure its system was trained on a diverse set of faces, in terms of race, gender, and age," he later asks.

And Franken doesn't stop there. "Apple has stated that it used more than one billion images in developing the Face ID algorithm. Where did these one billion face images come from?"

Which, yeah — that's a pretty good question.

Mashable ImageFace. Off.Credit: apple

Franken also wants to know if the company can "assure its users that it will never share faceprint data, along with the tools or other information necessary to extract the data, with any commercial third party."

And that pesky bit about Face ID actually securing your device against low-tech hacks? "Please describe again all the steps that Apple has taken to ensure that Face ID can distinguish an individual's face from a photograph or mask, for example," requests the senator.

He's asked that Apple respond by Oct. 13. Importantly, pre-sales for the iPhone X are slated to begin Oct. 27.

Hopefully the company takes Franken's request seriously. A detailed examination of just what Face ID means for the average consumer's privacy — not just convenience when unlocking the phone — was overdue the minute the feature was unveiled. Franken's letter gives Apple the opportunity to remedy that lapse.

In the meantime, maybe consider sticking with an alphanumeric password.


Featured Video For You
How the iPhone has evolved over the last decade

TopicsAppleCybersecurityFacial RecognitioniPhone

本文地址:http://o.zzzogryeb.bond/html/07a799233.html
版权声明

本文仅代表作者观点,不代表本站立场。
本文系作者授权发表,未经许可,不得转载。

全站热门

Flying spaghetti monster and unworldly life filmed in deep sea footage

The title of Hillary Clinton's upcoming campaign memoir has been unveiled

Comedian's ultra

US expert redoubles calls for sturdier deterrence against NK ICBM threats

It's Unnecessary But, AMD Is Basically Lying About CPU Performance

Comedian's ultra

Nearly 20 cows killed by single lightning strike in Texas

Purges spark doubts on Kim’s power

友情链接