“In my very first column in this Private I series, back in October 2014, I raised the spectre of Touch ID being used against you,” Glenn Fleishman writes for Macworld. “Approaching two years later, it’s clear that my and other people’s concerns weren’t idle speculations. A court recently required a convicted felon, immediately following her sentencing, to unlock a phone with her fingerprint.”
“The government’s interest in obtaining information related to the commission of a crime or the intent to commit one would seem to have clear, compelling public interest without the unpleasant side effect of worsening privacy for a billion or more people,” Fleishman writes. “Not all governments are just, however, and not everyone who wants you to unlock your phone is a legitimate, legal agent.”
“If you currently use Touch ID and you live in or plan to travel to a country in which the rule of law regarding human rights and personal liberty is on the low end of the scale — or you’re concerned that you could be physically forced to unlock your phone, but you’d never give up your passcode in any case — you can change how your iOS device is locked,” Fleishman writes. “Touch ID can be active and yet disabled for unlocking in a variety of ways.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: At least power down your iPhone at night. That would force a passcode if the phone is taken before you use it next.
To set a stronger alphanumeric passcode on your iOS device that cannot be easily brute-forced:
1. Settings > Touch ID & Passcode. On devices without Touch ID, go to Settings > Passcode
2. Tap Change Passcode
3. Tap Passcode Options to switch to a custom alphanumeric code
4. Enter your new, stronger passcode again to confirm it and activate it
