“Apple’s Face ID could become even more secure in the future, after the revelation the iPhone X producer has explored the possibility of scanning the pattern of veins in a user’s face as another form of biometric authentication,” Malcolm Owen reports for AppleInsider.
“The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent on Tuesday called ‘Vein imaging using detection of pulsed radiation,’ granted to Apple,” Owen reports. “First applied for on November 12, 2015, the patent describes the use of an infrared emitter and a receiver that can detect blood vessel patterns below the surface of the skin.”
“The system consists of an optical transmitter that emits multiple pulses of infrared light towards an area of the user’s body, such as a hand or a face,” Owen reports. “The infrared light can pass through the skin and reflect off the user’s veins, with returning light received by an image capturing device capable of accepting IR light. ”
Read more, and see Apple’s patent application diagram, in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Along with the slavish copiers Samsung et al., nosey twins are going to be pissed.
Pierre, that’s a very childish comment. Grow up.
that’s quite a transition. I wonder what you’re thinking about today?
Ah, finally a good reason not to treat my Rosacea and telangiectasia.
If there isn’t a way to disable it, my current iPhone might be my last iPhone, and I say this having used iPhones exclusively for ten years. Your engineers are morons, Tim.
If you don’t want a secure phone then don’t buy an iPhone
James makes a good point.
Apple may think it’s ahead of the bad actors today but we now find out that Apple’s email wasn’t secure. Basic internet protocols are hacked regularly. Police can buy boxes that will crack into your phone. Any Apple product can be cracked with physical access and time.
Then there is the motives all aligned against user privacy. Every corporation wants to track your every move so the pressure will never end for Apple to sell the data it collects (yes Apple collects your location). An iPhone might be a half step ahead of an android phone with google services blocked … today. Not sure about tomorrow.
Even if Cook had good intentions, why should we take his word for it? What about Cook’s successor?
Given what a piss poor job Cook has done keeping the Mac — a personal computer — alive and healthy for the last decade, i am not willing to trust that his thin client iOS strategy won’t eventually follow the rest of the Do Evil digital corporations. All the pieces are in place, and the wall is built high to keep the sheep in.
Poor show AGAIN unrealistic. Mixing nonsense with insult. Are you studying for a degree in propaganda? A very sad pursuit.
For those who care: NO eMail program is secure. As for Apple Mail, again like all eMail client programs, simply turn OFF loading linked content into ALL received eMail. No one should be allowing downloads of anything to their computerized devices without giving specific permission. Otherwise, you’re a malware and scamware magnet. And that’s bad. You’ll find the checkbox in the Mail Viewing Preferences. Problem solved.
Facts are useful things.
Some places, like London, have cctv everywhere. It is considered y the authorities the cheap way to stop crime.
Now we know Apple folds when China or America asks for backdoors. How soon before police states pass laws that force Apple to share its FaceID data? Will Apple comply?
I am much less optimistic about abuse of facial recognition technology than I am about ability for Apple and me to keep my fingerprints private. Apple is naive if it thinks it isn’t enabling Big Brother like tracking. Jobs might have resisted. Spineless Cook gives communist China whatever they want.