Ruling: Thumbprint scan is like a "blood draw or fingerprint taken at booking."

The legal situation is more complex and nuanced than the headline implies, so the article is worth reading. This adds another ruling to the confusing case history regarding forced biometric unlocking.

  • Lemming421@lemmy.worldEnglish
    61·
    8 months ago

    Reminder that on an iPhone, if you hold the Volume Up and Power buttons simultaneously for several seconds, the phone will vibrate and will require the PIN or password next time you unlock it, not Face/TouchID. This happens whether the screen is on or off, so you can discretely do it in your pocket.

    • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
      292·
      8 months ago

      Or just use pin all the time, no face or fingerprint.

      • fl42v@lemmy.ml
        149·
        8 months ago

        And then some random dude takes a peek at you entering said password, and steals the phone :/

        • Finalsolo963@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          4·
          8 months ago

          GrapheneOS has an option to scramble the numbers on the unlock screen. I don’t know if that’s a base android thing or available on IOS

          • fl42v@lemmy.ml
            1·
            8 months ago

            Correct. Not sure about iOS either, but many custom roms can, e.g. divestos, probably resurrection remix used to have it back when it was a thing (not sure here, but I distinctly remember having this feature somewhere before graphene)

        • flames5123@lemmy.world
          31·
          8 months ago

          In order to turn off the Find My iPhone functionality, you need the Apple ID password, so this isn’t even a real concern. You can even remotely lock the phone with a new password. Apple has made stealing an iPhone and making it work afterwards very hard.

          • fl42v@lemmy.ml
            5·
            8 months ago

            The idea is usually to access the victim’s banking app, or 2fa app, etc, AFAIK.

            • flames5123@lemmy.world
              32·
              8 months ago

              Both of those require their own password or biometrics, so you couldn’t access those either.

              • fl42v@lemmy.ml
                2·
                8 months ago

                Idk about iOS, but android lets you add a fingerprint using the lock screen password

                • flames5123@lemmy.world
                  2·
                  8 months ago

                  When changing biometric data on the iPhone, it locks you out of using it in other apps, making you put in your bank/other specific password.