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Turning a Smartphone Display Into a Biometric Scanner

Posted by Soulskill on from the don't-make-the-obvious-jokes dept.

New submitter jan_jes writes: Recent mobile phones integrate fingerprint scanners to authenticate users biometrically and replace passwords, making authentication more convenient. Researchers at Yahoo Labs have created a new technology called "Bodyprint," which turns your smartphone's touchscreen display into a biometric scanner. It allows the touch sensor to scan users' body parts (PDF) such as ears, fingers, fists, and palms by pressing them against the display. Bodyprint implements the four-eye principle for locking sensitive documents — accessing the document can require the presence of two or more people involved with the project. Another application is authenticating a user to answer a call by scanning their ear pressed against the phone.

10 of 16 comments (clear)

  1. ewwww.... by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    coming to a club near you.

  2. Biometric snake oil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Fingerprint scanners and other biometric authentications are a joke. To reduce false negatives they have to reduce the sensitivity, which makes the false positive rate around 1/200, which is the security of a 2-letter password.

    1. Re:Biometric snake oil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah, but the difference is that a 2-letter password can be cracked by a single person. With this biometric thing, you have to go find 200 different people to press the phone up to their ears.

  3. Waiting for the intersection with dating sites by abulafia · · Score: 2

    Not that losers need another reason to whip it out, but this has potential for demanding proof of all those '11" uncut' claims.

    --
    I forget what 8 was for.
  4. With apologies in advance by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    fingers, fists, and palms

    Does she, indeed?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  5. Precision and recall don't make it secure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They haven't even considered the possibility of hacking it with, say, a 3D-printed ear. Fingerprint scanners are routinely hacked. This seems even easier because all you need is a 3D scan or a few photos of someone's ear.

    1. Re:Precision and recall don't make it secure by rHBa · · Score: 1

      So 3D print a mould and pour in a conductive material. That stuff MythBusters use all the time would be conductive wouldn't it?

  6. Low-hanging fruit... by Etherwalk · · Score: 2

    Shouldn't a four-eye principle require two ordinary people or one person with glasses? (Contact lenses obviously don't count.)

    (As a side note, it's hard to believe that was ever really a slur).

    1. Re:Low-hanging fruit... by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      Not to be confused with the Five Eyes principle, which means that the government's just going to read it anyway.

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      https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
  7. other body parts by Puppet+Master · · Score: 1

    It allows the touch sensor to scan users' body parts... Is it just limited to ears, fingers, fists, and palms? Does it have to be your body part? Honey, bend over, I need to unlock my phone.

    --
    The day Microsoft creates a product that doesn't suck, it will be known as the Microsoft Vaccuum Cleaner!