“There’s a lot of talk around biometric authentication since Apple introduced its newest iPhone, which will let users unlock their device with a fingerprint,” Marcia Hoffman writes for Wired. “Given Apple’s industry-leading position, it’s probably not a far stretch to expect this kind of authentication to take off. Some even argue that Apple’s move is a death knell for authenticators based on what a user knows (like passwords and PIN numbers).”
MacDailyNews Take: It is.
“While there’s a great deal of discussion around the pros and cons of fingerprint authentication — from the hackability of the technique to the reliability of readers — no one’s focusing on the legal effects of moving from PINs to fingerprints,” Hoffman writes. “Because the constitutional protection of the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees that ‘no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself,’ may not apply when it comes to biometric-based fingerprints (things that reflect who we are) as opposed to memory-based passwords and PINs (things we need to know and remember).”
Hoffman writes, “If Apple’s move leads us to abandon knowledge-based authentication altogether, we risk inadvertently undermining the legal rights we currently enjoy under the Fifth Amendment. Here’s an easy fix: give users the option to unlock their phones with a fingerprint plus something the user knows.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple changes the world again, propels biometrics into the mainstream with iPhone 5s’ Touch ID – September 12, 2013
Security researcher: Thieves may chop off iPhone 5s owners’ fingertips to gain access – September 11, 2013
Apple’s iPhone 5S with biometric identification: Big Brother’s dream? – September 11, 2013
iPhone 5s: Once again Apple leaps ahead with Touch ID fingerprint recognition; a big enterprise win for Apple – September 10, 2013
Apple reveals flagship iPhone 5s with Touch ID, the world’s first and only 64-bit smartphone – September 10, 2013
