Apple FaceID

Yogesh Sapkale 02 October 2017

Life

When I heard about the introduction of FaceID by Apple, to unlock devices, the first thought that crossed my mind was its possible misuse by police as well as criminals. All they need to do is to hold the device near the user’s face and voila! It will unlock. However, as expected, Apple has also put in place a system that will prevent such misuse. In addition, Apple’s FaceID technology works in a very detailed way, making it difficult (at present) to crack.

Apple has introduced the FaceID feature in its new iPhone X replacing TouchID, its fingerprint identity scanner. For FaceID, Apple uses TrueDepth camera for facial mapping which is different from what other mobile phone-makers are using to unlock devices. Apple’s FaceID projects and analyses more than 30,000 invisible dots to create a precise depth map or 3-D image of the user’s face. Similar technology is used for morphing actors in animated, or digitally-enhanced, characters in the entertainment industry. Apple also claims that the data used in FaceID remains on the device all the time under protection by its Secure Enclave. This eliminates the concern of data breach for FaceID, as there is no data transfer from the device.

Several experts have been raising concerns about usage of face to unlock a device and Apple’s FaceID is no exception to this criticism. Fears of misuse that were expressed when Apple introduced its TouchID have remained with FaceID, albeit with a minor difference. For example, unlike TouchID, where your fingerprint can be used to unlock the device anytime, anywhere, it becomes difficult with FaceID if the user is sleeping or has closed his/her eyes.

In such a scenario, one may think about using a photo, video, make-up (including change in hairstyles, growing a beard or even plastic surgery), or masks of the user to unlock the device. But this idea is too filmi to be used in the real world. Apple used every trick in the book to train its A11 Bionic chip to prevent any misuse. This includes using masks and make-ups, or high-quality photos and videos that were created by professionals. There is one more technology, evil twins, where there is always a one in 50,000 chance of matching a stranger’s fingerprint with the user’s to unlock the device. However, this matching ratio drops to 1 in 1 million with FaceID. That means, even with evil twin, there may be only two identical face maps in every 1 million faces.

What if the user is in the dark or not enough light is available? Well, Apple uses flood illuminator that can scan the face using infra-red and then the dot projector checks the 30,000 points of identification. The data captured by the camera is crunched and sent to neural network bloc in the A11 Bionic chip to verify and authenticate with stored data of the user.

The question is: What if the police or a criminal confronts, or forces, the user to unlock the device? In an interview to TechCrunch, Craig Federighi, senior VP at Apple, says that, in such situations, the user can disable FaceID. “…on newer phones like iPhone 8 and iPhone X, if you grip the side buttons on either side and hold them a little while—we will take you to the power down [screen]. But that also has the effect of disabling Face ID.” In addition, Apple’s new devices require the user to enter the passcode, in case the user has not used the passcode in the past six days or more, or if the FaceID has not been used to unlock the device in the past four hours. It would be difficult to say whether Apple’s FaceID is foolproof. However, for the time being, and going by available resources, this appears to be one of the best systems for facial recognition.

Comments

User

LALITABH R SHRIVASTAWA

9 years ago

What if a kidnapper / blackmailer / mugger in an attempt to steal/compromise phone owner's critical info holds the new iPhone up the user's face? Dont know if the software would recognize whether the user is under duress or not?

Sadly several questions are still unanswered.