Apple Patenting a Way To Collect Fingerprints, Photos of Thieves (appleinsider.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Apple Insider: As published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple's invention covering "Biometric capture for unauthorized user identification" details the simple but brilliant -- and legally fuzzy -- idea of using an iPhone or iPad's Touch ID module, camera and other sensors to capture and store information about a potential thief. Apple's patent is also governed by device triggers, though different constraints might be applied to unauthorized user data aggregation. For example, in one embodiment a single failed authentication triggers the immediate capture of fingerprint data and a picture of the user. In other cases, the device might be configured to evaluate the factors that ultimately trigger biometric capture based on a set of defaults defined by internal security protocols or the user. Interestingly, the patent application mentions machine learning as a potential solution for deciding when to capture biometric data and how to manage it. Other data can augment the biometric information, for example time stamps, device location, speed, air pressure, audio data and more, all collected and logged as background operations. The deemed unauthorized user's data is then either stored locally on the device or sent to a remote server for further evaluation.

Comments

Why do I feel like

[waspleg]

this will just be used to collect biometric data of anyone who touches the phone and then be coupled later with other data to mine for ad scum and other equally vile and nefarious purposes?

I think it's interesting that Tim Cook comes out as some big privacy advocate but iDevices have unique advertiser ids and they're doing shit like this. It's more like who-can-be-most-evil-first race to the bottom of totalitarian turn key nightmare waiting to happen.

Re: Why do I feel like

[GrahamJ]

If this is something you worry about (I do too) I sincerely hope you don't use Android or other Google products. Unlike Google, Apple has no incentive to collect and mine your personal information. They make money off hardware, not profiling you and selling your eyeballs to, literally, the highest bidder. Even the advertising identifier, which you can reset, is an attempt to reign in user tracking. Apple Pay generates a unique ID for each transaction rather than handing your information over to the store. Spotlight search hashes app information and stores it locally. They actually go out of their way to protect privacy, unlike many other businesses I can think of.

Re:Why do I feel like

[AHuxley]

Its a stingray (IMSI-catcher) with more options for anyone using the phone, on any network.
Voice prints, logs, text, images, remote mic on, gps, facial recognition and now fingerprints. Ready in a nice gov spy app from any local contractor.
Parallel construction will never be more easy to get unexpected fingerprints from any user on any cell phone connected.
It will all be sold as security for the consumer, the national security part been hidden deep in the fine print again.