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Apple Recommends Children Under 13, Twins and Siblings Do Not Use Face ID On iPhone X (theguardian.com)

According to a security guide published Wednesday, Apple recommends that children under the age of 13 do not use Face ID on the iPhone X due to the probability of a false match being significantly higher for young children. The company said this was because "their distinct facial features may not have fully developed." They also recommend that twins and siblings do not use the new feature. The Guardian reports: In all those situations, the company recommends concerned users disable Face ID and use a passcode instead. With Face ID, Apple has implemented a secondary system that exclusively looks out for attempts to fool the technology. Both the authentication and spoofing defense are based on machine learning, but while the former is trained to identify individuals from their faces, the latter is used to look for telltale signs of cheating. "An additional neural network that's trained to spot and resist spoofing defends against attempts to unlock your phone with photos or masks," the company says. If a completely perfect mask is made, which fools the identification neural network, the defensive system will still notice -- just like a human.

120 comments

  1. -1 Redundant by kamapuaa · · Score: 2

    Do they really need to specify both twins and siblings?

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    1. Re: -1 Redundant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lawyers exist, so yes.

    2. Re:-1 Redundant by thegreatbob · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Might have been better worded like "siblings, especially twins, ..."

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    3. Re: -1 Redundant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Apple's new courage:

      Telling kids they were born wrong.

    4. Re:-1 Redundant by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1
      I was wondering about this from another standpoint. What if you set-up Face-ID at the age of 10 and by the time you reach 12/13 your face has elongated enough that you can no-longer unlock your device. The twins thing I get but surely the security is flawed if a mere sibling (Yes they look similar but not identical) can unlock your device.

      I should safe my brother grew up resembling the milk man

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    5. Re:-1 Redundant by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      About 20% of American families have only one child, but that is only about 10% of births. Roughly another 10% of the population, mostly elderly, have no living brothers or sisters. The other 80% of the population are siblings.

      Disclaimer: I have siblings, but they don't look like me.

    6. Re:-1 Redundant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's always the fallback on the passcode. FaceID doesn't entirely replace passcode unlock. It's just a quicker way of unlocking that bypasses the passcode with a match.

    7. Re:-1 Redundant by Zalbik · · Score: 1

      Disclaimer: I have siblings, but they don't look like me.

      You should ask your mom about that sometime :-)

    8. Re:-1 Redundant by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      Disclaimer: I have siblings, but they don't look like me.

      Good for them - who wants to look like an asshole?

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    9. Re:-1 Redundant by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      I was wondering about this from another standpoint. What if you set-up Face-ID at the age of 10 and by the time you reach 12/13 your face has elongated enough that you can no-longer unlock your device.

      Well, you could have read the fucking report by Apple, but you chose to look like an idiot instead (and no, that doesn't mean any idiot could unlock your iPhone).

      To improve unlock performance and keep pace with the natural changes of your face and look, Face ID augments its stored mathematical representation over time. Upon successful unlock, Face ID may use the newly calculated mathematical representation—if its quality is sufficient—for a finite number of additional unlocks before that data is discarded. Conversely, if Face ID fails to recognize you, but the match quality is higher than a certain threshold and you immediately follow the failure by entering your passcode, Face ID takes another capture and augments its enrolled Face ID data with the newly calculated mathematical representation. This new Face ID data is discarded after a finite number of unlocks and if you stop matching against it. These augmentation processes allow Face ID to keep up with dramatic changes in your facial hair or makeup use, while minimizing false acceptance.

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    10. Re: -1 Redundant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seems you could have tried understanding the words you pasted before making yourself look like an idiot.

      'Upon successful unlock, Face ID may use the newly calculated
      mathematical representationâ"if its quality is sufficientâ"for a finite number
      of additional unlocks before that data is discarded.'

      According to that wording, the NEW facial data is eventually discarded each time something changes. So eventually the phone always reverts back to the original facial data. In the case of a child the original could be years out of date, according to the wording in your own source.

  2. siblings? by fred6666 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Like most people on Earth?

    1. Re:siblings? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No mention of doppelgangers?

    2. Re:siblings? by will_die · · Score: 3, Informative

      Apple did specify "siblings that look like you", it was the guardian in their normal high level of professionalism that decided to make it look like Apple was stupid by ignoring the rest.

    3. Re: siblings? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So a Donald Trump impersonator could unlock the Presidentâ(TM)s Twitter machine...

    4. Re: siblings? by will_die · · Score: 1

      I thought trump used an android for his personal device and twitter and iphone for official related stuff.

    5. Re:siblings? by houghi · · Score: 2

      That is still a huge percentage. Basically they say "Do not use it if you look like somebody else" sounds like "You are holding it wrong".

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    6. Re: siblings? by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      So a Donald Trump impersonator could unlock the Presidentâ(TM)s Twitter machine...

      Actually, give how Trump distorts his own face when speaking, Face ID will probably not be able to identify him if he just opens his mouth.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  3. I recommend not buying an iPhone X. by Cloud+K · · Score: 0, Troll

    Buy the 8, SE, 7 or 6S (or Droid) and vote with your wallet against this half arsed system AND save a bundle in the process.

    1. Re:I recommend not buying an iPhone X. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I would like to subscribe to your newsletter

    2. Re:I recommend not buying an iPhone X. by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      Buy the 8, SE, 7 or 6S (or Droid) and vote with your wallet against this half arsed system AND save a bundle in the process.

      To vote with your wallet, you need to buy from another party. Otherwise they think you just arent rich enough and will want it when it gets cheaper.

  4. The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Steve Jobs was a huge fan of touch ID. You could say he was the driving force behind it, basically spearheaded its development and pushed the technology to where it is today. He would not be a fan of face recognition. Too many compromises, too many security holes. He never would have stood for it.

    RIP Steve. May Apple see the error of their ways.

    1. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by jblues · · Score: 3, Informative

      Too many compromises, too many security holes.

      Apple promote Touch ID has having 1 in 50,000 chance of false positive, while Face ID is 1 in 1,000,000

      --
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    2. Re: The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by brunes69 · · Score: 1

      Due to the nature of false positives, this is pretty irrelevant.

    3. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      1/1,000,000
      Unless you're under 13 or have a sibling.

      Perhaps they just mean out of all 7.5 billion faces in the world right now, 7,500 of them will unlock your phone. I assume there is really, really fine print about the chances being much higher if the face belongs to someone who looks similar to you, like a twin or even a sibling.

    4. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Yet did Apple ever tell 12 year olds Touch ID wouldn't work for them? Or siblings?
      Has anyone ever produced a Touch ID collision using 2 different fingerprints? It's easy enough to fool by cloning the targets fingerprints, despite claims to the contrary, but has anyone actually encountered a case where someone using Touch ID has found someone else that passes their Touch ID check?

    5. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

      Apple promote Touch ID has having 1 in 50,000 chance of false positive, while Face ID is 1 in 1,000,000

      For sufficiently loose definitions of 1 in 1,000,000, apparently.

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    6. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      So ... about 8,000 people on this planet can unlock my phone?

      With a pass token that I can neither change nor keep secret to boot...

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    7. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      Too many compromises, too many security holes.

      Apple promote Touch ID has having 1 in 50,000 chance of false positive, while Face ID is 1 in 1,000,000

      "Promote" is an odd word to use, almost like it's marketing and not real statistics based on experiments or even predictions. Is there a white paper or published study (preferably peer-reviewed) behind those numbers, or is it just insanely incredible marketing?

    8. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by vux984 · · Score: 1

      So ... about 8,000 people on this planet can unlock my phone?

      And since they generally have to look like you, the odds that one of those 8000 people is someone of the same race, same heritage, even someone you know, are related to, and perhaps even live...

      -facepalm-

    9. Re: The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is so wrong it's not even funny. They had nothing to do with the development of the fingerprint sensor... They bought the company over, right underneath Google which was planning to do it on their next phone

    10. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're not telling people Face ID won't work for them either. They're saying people who look like you have a higher chance of triggering false positives. Which is the effective equivalent of them saying people with similar finger prints to you have a higher chance of triggering false positives on touch ID.

    11. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      except it is only 1 in a million in ideal circumstances (i.e. some random, unrelated person trying to use it) and unlike fingerprint your face is plainly visible and can be replicated relatively easy without you even knowing someone has made a copy.

    12. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by houghi · · Score: 1

      It is, it is just that those odds are met in about 80% of the cases. In other words: in 20% of the time it works all the time.

      --
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    13. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Marketing speak, and to hit the numbers they just added a whole lot of restrictions.

      iPhone 9: The new Face ID has a 1 in 1,000,000,000 false positive rate. Note to achieve this your face needs to be permanently and uniquely disfigured in a horrible industrial accident. However we don't suggest you use this feature if you lost your nose completely, only if it is bent in a non-standard direction. Using it without a nose may cause a false positive for other disfigured people who also lost their noses.

      Apple recommends doing a lot of heroin as a child as you may end up with heterochromia and the missmatched eye colours can further help to secure your device.

    14. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      One in a million means that there are likely to be around 6,000 people in the world that can unlock your phone. Spread across the world, that's fine, but they're likely to be clustered geographically close to you because people typically migrate slowly and similar phenotypes are likely to be clustered - TFA shows the worst case of this: children of the same parents are often physically similar and many people live near relatives. In contrast, the distribution of fingerprints appears to be fairly uniform - siblings and even monozygotic twins often have completely different fingerprint patterns. This is the same problem as DNA 'fingerprinting'. Statistically, there are likely to be around 50 people in the UK who have the same DNA fingerprint, which seems like a good ratio for law enforcement, but they're similarly likely to be geographically clustered, so you may have 10-20 of them in the same city as the perpetrator, making the false positive rate very high.

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    15. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by gravewax · · Score: 1

      twins make up a bit under 5% of births, identical twins about 0.4%, siblings that look similar would probably push that to 10% or higher. The ability to scan someones face and produce realistic models is also not difficult and can be done without you even being aware it is happening. I would say that 1 in a million is bullshit number and probably comes with a disclaimer of "under ideal conditions" which would limit it to random members of the public trying to access the phone of someone unrelated.

    16. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1:1,000,000 for a random fucking stranger maybe -- but it sure as hell seems higher than that if they're warning about /siblings that look like you/. That's even identical, that's fairly close. This should raise fidelity questions of the scans, and the need for this shitty technology in the first place.

    17. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, My 3 year old daughters fingerprint unlocks my wife's phone.

    18. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Whibla · · Score: 1

      This is the same problem as DNA 'fingerprinting'. Statistically, there are likely to be around 50 people in the UK who have the same DNA fingerprint..

      Not that I'm doubting your 'integrity' (fwiw, I'm not) but this is a new statistic to me and one which, if true, is seriously troubling.

      Would you, by any chance, have a reference to a reliable source for this figure? If that reference went into detail regarding accuracy based on number of STR's used or the number of sample sites or the like so much the better.

      I have had a quick search online but I'm not seeing anything that would suggest a figure anywhere remotely close to the one you give (ignoring immediate family for a second, a 1 in 64 billion chance of a similar profile doesn't give rise to your statistic in a population of about 65 million people). Hence a link would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, in advance!

    19. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by coofercat · · Score: 1

      1 in 1,000,000 with 5% confidence ;-)

    20. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Would you, by any chance, have a reference to a reliable source for this figure?

      I don't have the original source for the number. I heard it in a Royal Institution Christmas Lecture Series ('Faraday Lecture') about 15-20 years ago. The fingerprinting technology may have improved since then, though given how long it takes before a new technique can be approved for use in court, I'd be surprised if it's much different.

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    21. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Jake+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Yes, and the distribution of those people is important. If fingerprints have 150,000 people randomly distributed through the entirety of earth's population that would unlock your phone, that's not bad. It would be pretty hard to find one of those people. It would be much better than say, in the worst case, that the 7,500 people that can unlock your phone with FaceID happen to be your 7,500 closest relatives, which would be fairly easy to find. This is an extreme example, but it demonstrates my point in the importance of the distribution.

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    22. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Jake+Griffin · · Score: 1

      "So you're saying there's a chance... YES!" -- Lloyd

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    23. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Jake+Griffin · · Score: 1

      This is one of the few times I have seen "incredible" used to mean what it actually means. Well done, sir.

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    24. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Jake+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Really? You think it's easier to copy the contours and depths of a face than a fingerprint that you can collect with a piece of tape?

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    25. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Well, I actually did learn that I have someone who looks stunningly like me without even being related to me in any way. Unlike me, though, he can actually play the guitar and sing, otherwise you could think he's my twin.

      So it needn't even be someone living with you or related to you. But of course you're right, the chances are vastly higher in your own family.

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    26. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yes it is. especially as most modern fingerprint readers require more than just a print, I can copy the contours of your face with a cheap lazer mapping device from a distance so you have no way of knowing it was even done

    27. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      1:1,000,000 for a random fucking stranger maybe -- but it sure as hell seems higher than that if they're warning about /siblings that look like you/. That's even identical, that's fairly close. This should raise fidelity questions of the scans, and the need for this shitty technology in the first place.

      A one in a thousand chance that somebody who "looks just like you" can unlock your phone is still pretty low.

      --
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    28. Re: The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      That is so wrong it's not even funny. They had nothing to do with the development of the fingerprint sensor... They bought the company over, right underneath Google which was planning to do it on their next phone

      How dare they buy a company that Google wanted to buy to pretend they developed something!

      --
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    29. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      Yes, and the distribution of those people is important. If fingerprints have 150,000 people randomly distributed through the entirety of earth's population that would unlock your phone, that's not bad. It would be pretty hard to find one of those people. It would be much better than say, in the worst case, that the 7,500 people that can unlock your phone with FaceID happen to be your 7,500 closest relatives, which would be fairly easy to find. This is an extreme example, but it demonstrates my point in the importance of the distribution.

      Errm, dude, only in our home town everybody under 30 looks like the postman.

      --
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    30. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      This is the same problem as DNA 'fingerprinting'. Statistically, there are likely to be around 50 people in the UK who have the same DNA fingerprint..

      Not that I'm doubting your 'integrity' (fwiw, I'm not) but this is a new statistic to me and one which, if true, is seriously troubling.

      Would you, by any chance, have a reference to a reliable source for this figure? If that reference went into detail regarding accuracy based on number of STR's used or the number of sample sites or the like so much the better.

      https://youtu.be/ScmJvmzDcG0?t...

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    31. Re:The loss of touch ID is a fatal flaw by Whibla · · Score: 1

      Thanks, I think (bloody geoblocking...)

      I'll find a US proxy at some point and give it a look.

  5. After 3 failed attempts... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apple will brick your iPhone and erase all data.

    1. Re:After 3 failed attempts... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Hey, earlier models could do this even without 3 failed attempts. All you had to do is repair it when it breaks.

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  6. Ah, the lovely trend of feature removal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The wonderful trend of feature-removal in the modern computing and electronics world. Take a feature like using a fingerprint, and then instead of ADDING facial recognition, REPLACE the fingerprint technology, which worked pretty darn well, with something that doesn't work properly for massive portions of the population. We have sheephumping morons running, and ruining, everything...

  7. Also not recommended for millennials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The phone's neural network gets confused by the gender changes.

    1. Re:Also not recommended for millennials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a sneaking suspicion that you're either a millenial or post-millenial yourself, as I don't know a whole lot of 30+ year olds that would be such a weenie.

    2. Re:Also not recommended for millennials by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      *gasp*

      Don't tell me Apple is now anti-LBQTBBQWTFKMA?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Also not recommended for millennials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ^ found the transfaggot

  8. Children need to get some scars first by Kuruk · · Score: 1

    Before going it the NSA database.

    1. Re:Children need to get some scars first by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      That can be arranged.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  9. So much fear over the Face ID by TheZeitgeist · · Score: 1

    I remember seeing those Snapchat face filters and being like "Here comes the Man." But in this instance, I really don't see how the privacy thing enters into it. The Secure Enclave on iOS is the real deal down at the hardware level in these phones; I don't see anyone (well, I haven't looked to hard either) thinking the government(s?) are making a vast fingerprint DB with Touch ID profiles...and Face ID is same technology just with a different input.

  10. Who would give a $1,000 phone by Alain+Williams · · Score: 1

    to a child under 13 ? The chances of it being lost or stolen are quite high!

    1. Re:Who would give a $1,000 phone by PPH · · Score: 1

      So they can go to school without having to hang their heads in shame.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:Who would give a $1,000 phone by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

      The chances of it being lost or stolen are quite high!

      Even more so now that apparently any other kid under 13 can unlock it!

  11. COPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Its because they are pushing the data somewhere. Those under 13 fall under the Child online protection Act so apple wants none of that.

  12. Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by sexconker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's all bullshit. Whatshisfuck stood on stage and claimed that it was orders of magnitude more secure and reliable than TouchID. What happened?

    If a completely perfect mask is made, which fools the identification neural network, the defensive system will still notice -- just like a human.

    Nope. If a "perfect" mask is made, the defensive system won't notice. And neither will a human. And if a "good" mask is made, the defensive system won't notice, but a human will.

    Your system isn't usable for children under 13 because "their distinct facial features may not have fully developed"? Bullshit. It isn't usable because it doesn't work well. 12 year olds have faces as distinct as any other human face, far more distinct than a fingerprint, etc. You are using a high res 3D ("depth sensing") camera, thousands of points of detection, etc., etc., right?

    If you can't distinguish 2 faces your shit is broken.
    If you can't recognize 1 face as being the same your shit is broken.
    If you can't walk the line between false positives and false negatives, you lie and dream up some shit about a defensive mechanism that's always working even when Face ID isn't working right, or Face ID not working because your faces haven't aged to distinction yet.

    Bullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!

    1. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by burtosis · · Score: 2

      It's all bullshit. Whatshisfuck stood on stage and claimed that it was orders of magnitude more secure and reliable than TouchID. What happened?

      What happened is 1 or more people looked at the phone in its locked state backstage and it rolled over to passcode only, it was actually a good demo of how secure it is.

      Nope. If a "perfect" mask is made, the defensive system won't notice. And neither will a human. And if a "good" mask is made, the defensive system won't notice, but a human will.

      while getting a perfect 3-d scan of the persons face and making a 3-d printed model may work - on the other hand, pun intended, lifting a fingerprint from anywhere and using it to unlock an iphone touch sensor is trivially easy, children have defeated it by touching it against their sleeping parents hand. Cops can force you to touch unlock your phone too. But the facial recognition wont work with your eyes closed or your face scrunched up or if someone else looks at your phone. So in reality it is a far more secure system, even if it goes over to passcode more often than the finger sensor.

    2. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      It's all bullshit. Whatshisfuck stood on stage and claimed that it was orders of magnitude more secure and reliable than TouchID. What happened?

      "More" is not necessarily more than a lot. A condom you had in your back pocket for a month is also more secure than "don't worry honey, I'll pull out".

      --
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    3. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      What happened is 1 or more people looked at the phone in its locked state backstage and it rolled over to passcode only, it was actually a good demo of how secure it is.

      So users of this phone will have to be careful not to allow the camera to see other people's faces or it will 'false negative' on them and automatically lock? That makes little sense.

      I bet, though, that when the face recognition feature failure occurred during the demo, they were ready, Apple probably had a team ready and waiting to fabricate whatever the most plausible explanation would be for any on-stage incident during the presentation. They probably have focus groups ready and waiting to bounce their stories off of. The marketing shit is really, really important at Apple, because it's the basis of their high markups.

    4. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      What the hell kind of comment was that?

    5. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by burtosis · · Score: 1

      99% of the time when I'm using my phone, I'm the only one to look at it locked so this feature would work for me. It can't be people from across the room, you need to be roughly 6" to 2' away, face the phone and roughly center yourself - something you would do naturally just holding it and looking at it. I'm not sure id want too use it for other reasons, I do prefer pass codes. Also, having done tech demos myself in front of a large audience, I have some sympathy for things going wrong even if you rehearsed them many times. That being said I don't doubt they said something plausible, if in fact it did have a problem.

    6. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suspect the 'under 13' thing is actually a legal CYA. Basically, privacy and PII laws are different for people under that age. By doing this they can say "well, we told you not to allow your under 13 year old to use the phone", and they've got a "use case not intended" argument in case anything bad happens.

    7. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I don't know if faces are more unique than fingerprints or not, but the more important difference is how they are measured. Fingerprint scanners are quite mature now, where as face scanning with a camera in varying lighting conditions, angles and the like is still not even good enough to differentiate human children reliably.

      Imagine if human parents couldn't tell their children's faces apart... Anyone with identical twins will attest to what chaos that can cause.

      --
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    8. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by Pascal+Sartoretti · · Score: 1

      It's all bullshit. Whatshisfuck stood on stage and claimed that it was orders of magnitude more secure and reliable than TouchID. What happened?

      Apple claims that Touch ID has 1 in 50,000 chance of false positive, while Face ID is 1 in 1,000,000. A factor of 200 is indeed "orders of magnitude".

      I am however surprised that TouchID has only 1 in 50,000 chance of false positive.

    9. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by Graydyn+Young · · Score: 1

      The 1/50k number and 1/100k numbers are clearly just made up. The Touch ID figure is a pretty blatant lie, fingerprints aren't even that unique.
      And this article is proof that the 1/100k is also bullshit. Siblings for fucks sake!
      This reminds me so much of the Nuance voice auth system that was supposedly 1/10k false positive rate, but anybody could log on as anybody else by doing a half-assed impression of their voice.

    10. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I don't know if faces are more unique than fingerprints or not, but the more important difference is how they are measured. Fingerprint scanners are quite mature now, where as face scanning with a camera in varying lighting conditions, angles and the like is still not even good enough to differentiate human children reliably.

      Imagine if human parents couldn't tell their children's faces apart... Anyone with identical twins will attest to what chaos that can cause.

      That's why face scanning doesn't rely on a simple 2D camera that is easily fooled by a mask or a photo.

      Face detection systems like Face ID use a 3D camera and infra-red. It's why Windows Hello has special requirements. It turns out IR-lit faces are easiest to detect because an IR camera is not influenced as much by lighting conditions. (No, Kinect used a standard 2D camera for recognition, not the depth sensor). So lighting conditions may vary, but a face captured using an IR camera lit using an IR source will generally be lit the same regardless of actual lighting conditions. It's why it works in the dark, too.

      Face ID adds to that by using structured light maps (like the first Kinect) to sense depth as well - which is why a photo will not work - it needs to measure the depth of your facial features as well.

      That's also why it is limited to the iPhone X. No other iPhone has the IR projector or camera. (They straddle the regular camera).

      I wonder how long until someone hacks it to use the iPhone X as a basic 3D scanner...

    11. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      The comparative isn't necessarily an augmentation to the positive. When someone answers "better" to the question how he's feeling, it usually means he's far from feeling well.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    12. Re:Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      It's all bullshit. Whatshisfuck stood on stage and claimed that it was orders of magnitude more secure and reliable than TouchID. What happened?

      If a completely perfect mask is made, which fools the identification neural network, the defensive system will still notice -- just like a human.

      Nope. If a "perfect" mask is made, the defensive system won't notice. And neither will a human. And if a "good" mask is made, the defensive system won't notice, but a human will.

      So it's just like with "perfect artificial fingerprints". And nobody uses those to unlock iPhones either, Yeah all you write is bullshit.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  13. It's magic! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A "completely perfect" mask would fool a human pretty much by definition, but it wouldn't fool Face ID, because.... magic!

  14. Baked in design flaws by fibonacci8 · · Score: 1

    "Having a twin", "having at least one sibling", or "being under the age of 13", is just one of those unforeseeable contingencies Apple has had to contend with. It joins the likes of "being left handed", "the comic strip Dick Tracy being prior art to everything about the Apple Watch", and "heterosexuality".

    --
    Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
  15. *ahem* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!

    Biometrics change. This is not new information. They especially change in children and can continue through age 25 and later, and through accident and design. Stop using them. Use a code, and use something more than 4 digits long (or 6, its only 10^6 units of entropy minus all those eliminated by seeing your grubby-ass fingerprints on your screen cause none of you filthy heathens actually wipe them clean but maybe once a day.)

    also...
    "An additional neural network that's trained to spot and resist spoofing defends against attempts to unlock your phone with photos or masks," the company says. If a completely perfect mask is made, which fools the identification neural network, the defensive system will still notice -- just like a human

    Will it false-trigger if I have a flu? Sinus problems? Allergies? What about if I am blushing? Change my facial hair? Change my makeup? Have a black eye? Have half my face covered in bandages cause I got beat up by Apple fanboys when I was too drunk to defend myself?

    If it can be changed without your consent, or even understanding, its not fit to function as a security token. Stop using biometrics, they are not static. Government data invasions aside, they are not a reliable key.

    1. Re:*ahem* by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      And if it CANNOT be changed even with your consent it is not fit as a security token either. It's great for identity, but it could hardly be worse for authorization.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:*ahem* by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      You must have forgotten that part where this feature is not compulsory. You may continue to use a passcode.

    3. Re:*ahem* by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      You can also probably just disable the screen lock feature entirely.

      It's possible you can even use the new Applephone without ever connecting to the Apple servers or having an account with Apple. You can probably use it as a dumbphone.

      I might be wrong on this second part, of course.

    4. Re:*ahem* by swilver · · Score: 1

      It's probably even possible to not buy that phone at all and get a different one!

    5. Re:*ahem* by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      I haven't ever bought an iPhone, but I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't even make emergency calls unless you've set up your iTunes account.

    6. Re:*ahem* by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      And if it CANNOT be changed even with your consent it is not fit as a security token either. It's great for identity, but it could hardly be worse for authorization.

      Hunh? I'll break your nose for free. "Problem" solved, motherfucker.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    7. Re:*ahem* by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      You must have forgotten that part where this feature is not compulsory. You may continue to use a passcode.

      Yeah, but the chances that your twin (even non-identical) knows your birthday you use as your passcode are 100%.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  16. Look alike according to Algorithm by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Apple did specify "siblings that look like you",

    Yes, but what they mean is siblings that look like you according to an algorithm which also thinks that all kids under 13 look alike. This doesn't exactly inspire much confidence especially if this is the algorithm protecting your Apple Pay cards on your phone. Mind you at the price they are charging you probably won't have much money left on those cards for your look alike to access.

    1. Re:Look alike according to Algorithm by Jake+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Yes, but what they mean is siblings that look like you according to an algorithm which also thinks that all kids under 13 look alike.

      Not exactly... There is a higher probability of false matches due to fewer distinguishing features, but that doesn't mean all of them look alike. Just that there are more groupings of look-alikes than with adults.

      --
      SIG FAULT: Post index out of bounds.
  17. Same old Apple line... by fluffernutter · · Score: 0

    We're doing something we think is cool, fuck whomever it doesn't work for.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    1. Re:Same old Apple line... by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      "Designed in California by Apple."

    2. Re:Same old Apple line... by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      We're doing something we think is cool, fuck whomever it doesn't work for.

      You can't use your phone to make phone calls if your are dumb. And heck, are you dumb as fuck.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  18. Also, probably criminal by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

    If Apple didn't counter-indicate FaceID for children, they would probably be violating COPA - the act that makes it so companies cannot start fucking around with your data til you are 13. Well, at least, not as freely.

    --
    Your ad here. Ask me how!
    1. Re:Also, probably criminal by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      Supposedly, the data doesn't leave the phone; COPPA should not apply. That they spefically chose the age limit for COPPA tells me they believe it does apply and, since Apple's lawyers aren't likely to be idiots, that tells me the data probsbly leaves the phone.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    2. Re:Also, probably criminal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No guys it totes would never leave the phone. Your face changes a lot as you grow, you might not be able to unlock your phone in a year or two and have to enter the pin code. And you twins better stop fucking up our facial recognition algos or else.

    3. Re:Also, probably criminal by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      If Apple didn't counter-indicate FaceID for children, they would probably be violating COPA - the act that makes it so companies cannot start fucking around with your data til you are 13. Well, at least, not as freely.

      If that is their concern, they will also soon recommend Europeans against it.

  19. Everyone else by Trogre · · Score: 1

    Everyone else recommends nobody use crappy gimmicks like Face ID.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  20. Twins by Camembert · · Score: 1

    I am blessed with young twin babies, they are not identical - boy and girl, so they should be different enough for the system. But in general even if they were identical, I would expect that most twins aren't split between good and evil, meaning in practice it wouldn t be an issue for each of them to use faceid on their own phone. It is a matter of trust if you mind that your twin cannot unlock your phone.
    Similarly my wife and I use touchid and we also know the passcode of each other's phone, sometimes it is usful to be able to unlock the other phone.

  21. Fodder by wkwilley2 · · Score: 1

    I would recommend no one should use Face ID, or the IphoneX for that matter.

    The NSA thanks you for the updated face scans.

    --
    Have you ever fallen asleep at the keybhanusdiog?
    1. Re:Fodder by coofercat · · Score: 1

      I thought that Apple had made it so that it's all done on the phone, and stored in the secure enclave, and it's a 'hash' of your face, not your actual face that gets stored anyway.

      As for the recommendation - I'd agree with you on all counts (but for different reasons).

    2. Re:Fodder by wkwilley2 · · Score: 1

      This may be true, but I'd rather err on the side of caution.

      First we had Amazon Echo, now they have alarm clocks with camera's on them and now Apple with their FaceID. It's just all too much.

      --
      Have you ever fallen asleep at the keybhanusdiog?
    3. Re:Fodder by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      I would recommend no one should use Face ID, or the IphoneX for that matter.

      The NSA thanks you for the updated face scans.

      And don't get me started on what they can do with your Android ...

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  22. Perfect! by Gussington · · Score: 1

    "If a completely perfect mask is made, which fools the identification neural network, the defensive system will still notice -- just like a human". If the mask or photo is "completely perfect" then how will it tell? If it can tell, then by definition the mask is not perfect.

    1. Re: Perfect! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Context. Someone could make a perfect copy of the Mona Lisa. It would still not look real to anyone if it hangs in a hotel lobby.

  23. Or.... by xlsior · · Score: 1

    I strongly suspect that the "not for kids under 13" is mainly to head off legal issues due to the US rules that kids under 13 need explicit parental permission to enroll in services that affect their privacy.

    That's also the reason why facebook and many other internet companies' terms and conditions all require you to be at least 13 to sign up as well, they simply don't want to have to deal with the hassle of verifying/validating and keeping records that an actual adult explicitly authorized their kid signing up. If a kid ignores the EULA signs up anyway, then they 'lied' during the signup and facebook can't be held responsible for letting them in.

  24. Biometrics by ledow · · Score: 1

    I went to a trade fair, for IT in schools.

    Against my wishes, I was asked to research biometric logins.

    Pretty much every single stall that offered anything even remotely like that told me one thing (usually after much probing, or literally having to ask outright if it would work).

    They don't work reliably enough for kids. Fingerprints. Iris scans. Face recognition. Every vendor told me the same thing, but they weren't actually ADVERTISING that (obviously). They said they would be good enough for, say, a library where people can just type in a name when it failed but for anything that needed a vague semblance of success, the kid would have to be at last 9/10/11.

    As far as I was concerned, this was a welcome relief as I could honestly say that every vendor had said their products wouldn't be suitable for the product research I was asked to do. But it did make me wonder why they were there, still.

    Apparently until they're "grown up", about 15/16, the chances of having to constantly re-register them are high and they had an awful lot of product returns etc. where people were using them with younger users.

    In a way, a great thing. But I was also surprised that the tech was just that fragile.

  25. chance of a twin is 1 in 40 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Obviously Apple are lying about Face ID's 1 in 1,000,000.

  26. In other words... by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

    ...Face ID sucks!

  27. iProsopagnosia by iTrawl · · Score: 1

    Know what would be nice? A face recognition app that tells me the name of the person I'm talking to. I have a little bit of trouble with faces, even when it comes to close friends, so it would be nice if I had some Augmented Reality overlay to tell me who they are when I haven't seen them for a while. Luckily, so far other people recognise me readily enough so that compensates for my deficiency.

    Now... if this app I'm suggesting could also tell identical twins apart... that would be awesome.

    --
    "Everybody's naked underneath" -- The Doctor
  28. Alarmist Headline by cmseagle · · Score: 1
    Here's the quote from the source:

    The probability that a random person in the population could look at your iPhone X and unlock it using Face ID is approximately 1 in 1,000,000 (versus 1 in 50,000 for Touch ID)... The probability of a false match is different for twins and siblings that look like you as well as among children under the age of 13, because their distinct facial features may not have fully developed. If you're concerned about this, we recommend using a passcode to authenticate.

    Until we have some third party testing on how easy it is to fool Face ID, I'm reserving judgment.

  29. That's what I thought... by rainbird · · Score: 1

    Apple confirms what I have thought for years. All kids look alike.

  30. Summary by Murdoch5 · · Score: 1

    It doesn't work.

  31. Don't Use Biometrics For Authentication by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Biometrics are fairly distinct sets of data, however THEY ARE NOT SECRETS.

    Also, your fingers / your face has value to you, as something other than an authentication device.
    This may not be the case with someone interested as authenticating as you.
    For some psychopaths, stealing a finger in addition to a phone is just not that big a deal.
    For some psychopaths, stealing a head in addition to a phone is just not that big a deal.

    Don't use biometrics for authentication; just don't.

  32. Face ID by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is this the part where they tell you you're facing wrong?

  33. What about sheep ? by stooo · · Score: 1

    What about sheep ?
    You can't make a safe distinction between sheep's faces.
    So why did Apple implement this face recognition is beyond me.

    --
    aaaaaaa