Did you give your Thumbprint to Apple??

JAG87

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
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For god's sake. Anybody in your remote vicinity can also get your thumbprint easily. Make sure you use gloves and wipe down everything you touch.
 

Radeon962

Senior member
Jan 1, 2005
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Once you use it you will never go back.

Apple and Huawei and LG or Google for that matter have my both of my index fingers and both thumbs.

What do you think they are going to do with them that they can't already do with all the data they already have accumulated about you?
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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You're not giving Apple your thumbprint, it's just being stored on the device in a way that's not retrievable so the risk is minimal. It's just like any sane website shouldn't store your password, but a hash of it such that they can authenticate you but make it difficult for an attacker to reverse the stored data into your password.

The convenience is worth it in my opinion. It's one of my favorite iPad features, and I don't even do anything advanced like the payment system with it.
 
Feb 19, 2001
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You're not giving Apple your thumbprint, it's just being stored on the device in a way that's not retrievable so the risk is minimal. It's just like any sane website shouldn't store your password, but a hash of it such that they can authenticate you but make it difficult for an attacker to reverse the stored data into your password.

The convenience is worth it in my opinion. It's one of my favorite iPad features, and I don't even do anything advanced like the payment system with it.
The key is its not even being stored on Apple servers, so once you reset your phone you need to re-setup TouchID. This isn't the same as your iCloud password being the same across all devices.

Now all of this comes with trust though because iOS and all its underlying details are all closed source, you have to trust what Apple says is true.

If anyone bothers to read the iOS security white paper though, you'll see its pretty convincing and the security aspect of iOS and iPhones is pretty damn rock solid, especially compared to what you have on the Android side.
 

openwheel

Platinum Member
Apr 30, 2012
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For god's sake. Anybody in your remote vicinity can also get your thumbprint easily. Make sure you use gloves and wipe down everything you touch.

sounds like you are making a case against TouchID :D
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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sounds like you are making a case against TouchID :D

The amount of effort to fake a print is greater than the effort to shoulder surf a password or a PIN. I think that eventually the cameras on the front of devices will be so good that they'll have high quality iris scans, which would make another great authentication factor, but we're not quite there yet.
 

openwheel

Platinum Member
Apr 30, 2012
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Right, because it is so easy spying on your PIN or pattern lock, and steal your phone at the same time. Rather than, say, stealing a glass you held at a party. Chances are, a thief can steal your phone and a glass at the same time. Are you afraid a thief will spy on your PIN, and then follow you behind a dark alley to steal phone?

Fact, is, you can change your PIN and password. You cannot change your finger print.
 
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Artdeco

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
2,682
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Wow

Just enable Find My Phone and wipe it or lock or track it remotely if stolen.

Same with Android.
 

openwheel

Platinum Member
Apr 30, 2012
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Right, because that's what you would do while trying to get it on after a party. Sorry beautiful keep your cloths on for a minute I need to lock my stolen iPhone which had already been unlocked with my stolen fingerprint. My bank account is drained but at least now I can remotely lock it. Isn't that cool? Still want to get it on? What fo you mean I have to pay? You don't take a check? I don't have ApplePay on me.
 

JAG87

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
3,921
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Right, because it is so easy spying on your PIN or pattern lock, and steal your phone at the same time. Rather than, say, stealing a glass you held at a party. Chances are, a thief can steal your phone and a glass at the same time. Are you afraid a thief will spy on your PIN, and then follow you behind a dark alley to steal phone?

Fact, is, you can change your PIN and password. You cannot change your finger print.

I don't even know what to say, you must be a few chromosomes short.

How difficult is it to shadow someone and see the PIN they enter, and then take the phone when they leave it unattended? What is this dark alley crap you're coming up with to support your argument?

That is like light years easier than stealing a phone, and also stealing a glass while making sure that your finger print (which must be the one you use to unlock the phone, cause you know, you have TEN fingers) is preserved in pristine condition on the glass. And then you must dust the fingerprint, carefully lift it off the glass and place it on a finger looking device so that you can unlock the phone. Yea that is totally reasonable.

You know what, I could go on and on, but I'll just let your argument self-destruct itself in this thread.
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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So this thief of yours can take a glass, extract a print, and make a fake thumb and then lift your phone, but they can't notice your pin and then steal your phone? Uh huh.

With some people, you can tell their pin or swipe code just from looking at the screen and noticing the print smudges, especially if they just check an email or something like that. Might be enough just to take the phone.

Also, just because you use TouchID doesn't mean you have to use Apple's payment system. I just use it as a really convenient way to unlock my device and that's it.

It seems as though you want to argue against fingerprint readers so rather than logically consider the likelihood of a scenario occurring (petty criminal swiping a phone and having the ability to clone a finger print) you've picked a scenario that you feel best suites your conclusion and dismiss others that are more practical or likely.

If someone is stealing a phone and attacking the fingerprint lock, they're less likely to be a thief and far more likely to work for some government agency, in which case:

security.png
 

JAG87

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
3,921
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you've picked a scenario that you feel best suites your conclusion and dismiss others that are more practical or likely.

He's just on one of his regularly occurring irrational anti-apple tirades. It's evident by what he wrote in post #10.
 

sm625

Diamond Member
May 6, 2011
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It is actually surprising that criminals do not plant more prints just to throw off the cops. Imagine what the cops would do if they found prints from half a dozen people all over the country at a crime scene. Meanwhile the actual perp wore gloves...
 

openwheel

Platinum Member
Apr 30, 2012
2,044
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LOL ladies you can untwist your panties. Has no one ever argue against the greatest invention ever? The finger print scanner.
 

razel

Platinum Member
May 14, 2002
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Yes, your fingerprint is everywhere... give them your tongue instead.
 

cronos

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
9,380
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It's fine. I gave my thumb print to Google, which some people consider more eviler :D
 

joutlaw

Golden Member
Feb 18, 2008
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sweenish

Diamond Member
May 21, 2013
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The idea that you're important enough for someone to try and clone your fingerprint also plays into it.

You're not. You won't be. This is such a tired debate.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,661
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The government can compel you to give up biometrics, but not a password. That's good enough reason for me to never use biometrics.
 

sweenish

Diamond Member
May 21, 2013
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Don't do illegal stuff?

I get that you still want your rights protected, but that's a weak stance, too. If your phone contains data that may incriminate you, wouldn't unlocking your phone for law enforcement or government agencies be self-incrimination, therefore protected by the fifth amendment?

And when we've reached that point, isn't choosing to use a fingerprint the least of your mistakes?
 

mikegg

Golden Member
Jan 30, 2010
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Just got an Iphone 6s--Should I give my Thumbprint?

Apple is worth nearly $700 billion. They don't care about your fingerprint. They aren't going to risk user trust by storing and some how using your fingerprint.
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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Interesting.

The rest of my post still stands, though.

Actually it's not quite that simple. There's a lot of case law that says you can't be forced to divulge a password to the authorities, but very little case law related to using fingerprints as passwords.

However, the interesting work around is that much like the police can't compel you to divulge your password, they can't compel you to divulge which finger you use to unlock your device. I suppose they're free to tell you which they'd like you to use, much like they could ask you to key in some combination of letters and numbers, but I believe that most devices only give you a certain number of tries before wiping the device.