Stop Using Your Face or Thumb to Unlock Your Phone
The laws surrounding 5th Amendment protections and biometric passwords are still undecided, so just turn it off.
Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California released a ruling that concluded state highway police were acting lawfully when they forcibly unlocked a suspect’s phone using their fingerprint.
You can turn that and Face ID off on iOS by mashing the power button 5 times- it locks everything down.
I've always wanted a setting to create a lockdown key and an unlock key. So something like middle-finger to unlock but index-finger to force it into PIN/password only mode. So you can have some convenience of a quick unlock but if an authority figure asks or forces you to unlock it you can one-tap lock it down.
⚠️ WARNING: On android, mashing the power button 5 times calls emergency services.....
There are two ways you can do this on Android currently, but they're not as quick. You can try to unlock with the wrong finger 5 times and it will stop allowing fingerprint unlocks. Or, you can hold down the power button for 10 seconds and the phone will reboot and also disable fingerprint unlocking.
Android has a similar feature. It's called "Lockdown mode" on the shutdown menu. Locks the phone and turns off any biometric unlocks.
Except it doesn't activate by mashing the power button 5 times. On my Pixel 8, that activates the emergency dialer that will automatically call 911 if you don't cancel the prompt in 5 seconds. I did not know that before. Probably a better use for that feature. It also points out the different ideologies of Apple vs Android.
In a getting pulled over situation, this works. But do it before you go protest anything. Or better yet, leave your phone at home. You don’t want to be reaching for something while a cop is pointing a gun at you and saying “Hands up!”
☞ EFF / Surveillance Self-Defense / Attending a Protest
That's terrifying. So once we have tech to forcibly see inside the brain, that will be legal too?
You think it wouldn't xD?
“You shouldn’t be worried if you have nothing to hide” 🤷♂️
Probably. Wouldn't it be good to have the truth during investigations?
However I think that we really need refine when warrantless searches can occur. Right now many searches seem to be done with very little evidence to justify them. I think this protection should apply to your mind and phone just like it applies to your house. This probably also needs to be considered at border crossings. Right now they have basically unlimited rights for searching what you have on you with little to no evidence.
We should probably also rethink about how the information is shared when there is a warrant. Right now during a trial a huge amount of personal information can be made available. Maybe if it was easier to get precise information less would be needed.
Do you have to mash it? Or will pressing it normally work?
The only thing I'll mash is that subscribe button
NO
Pretty sure Apple would replace the buttons with pressure sensors – not for user comfort but so that they are no longer replaceable with OEM parts and can be serialized. They did literally this with Macbook sleep sensors.
You can also just long press a volume button with the lock button (with a FaceID phone). I find this harder to mess up under stress.
Assuming you have the access to do this, e.g. awake, conscious, not handcuffed, etc. It's safer to just always use a PIN in the first place.
Just hold volume up and power for 3 seconds.
Came here to say that! Glad it’s getting around.
Further advice regarding civil disobedience:
LEAVE YOUR PHONES AT HOME. Write down some numbers in case you get arrested—or better yet, memorize them. There are journalists there for documenting. And there will be plenty of other people that don’t follow this advice. Leave anything they could use as leverage over you and your cohorts away. Don’t bring ID. Don’t bring anything except what you need for the action. It’s not worth the risk.
ETA: also, any of you with a new car? DONT DRIVE THAT SHIT TO ANY MEETING OR PROTEST. They’re spying on you. Don’t post about it. Don’t use any unencrypted messaging service to coordinate it—WhatsApp is not safe. Signal and probably some other less common ones are the only ones safe enough. Ride a bike there, stash it in a conveniently hidden spot. Bring a change of clothes, plan escape routes, plant the change of clothes either hidden on your escape route or wear them under your plain clothes. Cover tattoos. Leftist activists are not safe. And literally the rest of your life could depend upon how well protected you have made yourself.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/10/felony-charges-pipeline-protesters-line-3
So many states have pretty quietly passed laws to make you a felon for protesting. Even peacefully. And to make you a fuckin corpse. In the south especially, a few states were writing “go ahead, run over any protester in the road” laws.
Be smart. Be safe. Have a plan. Have a contingency plan. This isn’t “fuck around with the blunt end of the justice system and find out” territory, in 2024 US, it’s time to be as safe as you can while doing what’s right. Because doing what’s right is criminalized. Heavily.
If you’re going somewhere where you think you might be at risk, IMHO, it’s probably just easier to turn your phone off. Android and iOS both require a non-biometric passcode after boot.
Or, if you want to keep your phone on, enable lockdown mode on Android, or tap power 5 times on iOS to require a non-biometric password at the next unlock.
It’s never a good idea to bring your phone with you. It can be used, even while powered off, to track and surveil you. The BLM protests were just the tip of the iceberg. The apps you have on your phone track you. The government is buying that tracking data. Your phone is a massive privacy weak point. It’s basically a bug you carry on you willingly. It’s not safe. Period.
https://www.vox.com/recode/22565926/police-law-enforcement-data-warrant
Leave your phone at home. It’s not worth it. It may not bite you in the ass the day of, but could very easily come back to haunt you after they investigate, in case anything goes “wrong” in their eyes. It’s just not worth it.
The concern with bringing your phone is that police have subpoenaed cell providers to force them to turn over cell tower records. The police then used the lists of cell phones connected to those towers to track down protestors.
You shouldn’t bring your phone to a protest because it could end with police kicking your front door in three weeks after the protest has wrapped up.
Maybe get a dumb burner phone with no personal data on it. You could potentially keep your main phone in a secret/secure pocket.
keep your main phone in a secret/secure pocket.
Terrible idea, it will be found with absolute certainty if you're arrested.
No. Several Jan 6 participants tried burners and they still got caught because the burners were still linked to their movements and activities and their personal phones were unusually unused/off/immobile for the amount of time the burners were used. You would have to expend a lot of effort to make sure your burner was completely disconnected from yours and your phone’s location, as well as making sure your phone showed signs of appropriate activity in your absence.
Not so easy.
The article pretty plainly says the guy was coerced into entering his password. So the headline feels a bit manipulative.
It’s Gizmodo. Its all manipulative bullshit.
Lemmy quality descended quite quickly. What’s the more intelligent tech community alternative besides hacker news?
It seems everything descends into this samey mess of america bad, eat the rich which I don’t dispute with but I am here for tech and not politics honestly. Time and place for everything.
The amount of low effort comments that seem to only be about points/validation which aren’t even visible for some is tiring.
It used to be that you would look into comments for useful information about the posted article. Now you can skip the comments altogether and the posted links quality also became questionable.
I miss times where you could find links to some niche but full of creativity/usefulness websites in the comments or posts. Those juicy gems of the web. Or learn some fact that you had no idea about.
I want to learn something new being here. Not make my brain feel good with the reward of validation.
However, the panel said the evidence from his phone was lawfully acquired “because it required no cognitive exertion, placing it in the same category as a blood draw or a fingerprint taken at booking..."
If the precedent is that unlocking the phone is the same category as fingerprint taking, well, what happens if you refuse to be "coerced" into having your prints taken? Even if the legal precedent isn't fully understood, it looks like the reasoning here isn't based on whether there was physical force applied, but whether the search required the contents of the person's mind.
It's frustrating to no end that fingerprints and face ID are treated like passwords when they should be treated like usernames.
They make sense as a 2FA. It would be really cool if I could require either PIN+fingerprint or a long recovery password.
That makes a lot of sense !
## How to disable Face ID through the Power Off screen
- Hold down both the Side Button and either Volume Button at the same time for three seconds.
- The Power Off slider should appear. Tap Cancel.
You actually don't need to hit cancel, you can just hit lock, so you can do this whole thing with your phone in your pocket.
https://appleinsider.com/inside/iphone/tips/how-to-quickly-disable-face-id
This is easier and less intrusive than the lock-button-5-times method because it doesn't start making a phone call that you have to quickly cancel.
This is the advice people (with iOS) should follow, not disabling biometrics altogether. Using FaceID or TouchID prevents shoulder surfing to find out what the password to your phone is. When local passwords have so much control over a device, using biometrics to prevent anyone from seeing what your passcode is is very useful.
Those settings can also be altered under Settings > Emergency SOS
Real MVP right here. Good to know!
This also encrypts your data.
FYI Androids have a feature for this. If you are ever forced to interact with a cop you can press the side button and volume up(might be different on other phones) to select lockdown which will force your phone to only be opened with the password. Its gross that we need this feature, but now you know.
iPhones do this too. Hold the lock and volume down button until your phone buzzes, to get to the SOS/reboot screen. Once that screen is activated, it’ll disable biometrics until the passcode is entered.
You can even take photos/videos with the locked phone, and the recordings won’t be able to be deleted from your iCloud until the passcode is entered. Handy for recording cops. Cuz even if they take your phone and delete the recording, it’ll still sit in your “Recently Deleted” for 30 days. And while the phone is locked, they can’t access that Recently Deleted folder to permanently wipe it. So you can just access your iCloud account from any computer and recover the “deleted” footage.
iPhones also have this feature, for a long time now:
https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/keep-law-enforcement-out-your-iphone-your-privacy-intact-0194999/
Rather irresponsible of the article to not point out these features on Android and iPhone. Did a cop or government official write that article?
Most likely just a written with little real tech experience.
It's good that they have this, but there are a lot of situations involving cops where it's not going to be safe to stick your hand in your pocket. I'll just leave the biometrics off on my devices.
Yeah, but I want a combo that force starts the feature. I want to pull out my phone and be able to blind start it, not stare at my screen to select the correct thing.
Same, but this is our only option unfortunately.
I have Button Mapper trigger a Tasker task that locks my phone when I hold the volume down button, for some reason Button Mapper's lock doesn't trigger a lockdown.
(Tap and hold still lowers the volume)
Jesus christ this explains why occasionally I'll pull my phone out of my pocket and it forces me to input the pin rather than the thumb print. It's just one of those mildly annoying things that you wonder about but don't think about enough to search for the answer.
Your situation is more likely to be caused by Android's system to make sure you don't forget your pin. It has a number of unlocks (and a length of time) before it forces you to do the code.
It's* gross
Great contribution.
Maybe don’t live in a fucking dystopia. The US is a police state and you have no freedom left.
You do have the delusion of it though. It may not be real but if you want it to be you can work hard for money that was never real to begin with.
The more of those Talisman you handle the more magick will save your life til your labor is done with.
While I buy you’re general cynicism, it’s wrongly applied here …
It seems like we have both more and less protections than other places, for this instance.
This is more of a scenario where legal contortions turn into huge inconsistencies, plus our legislature has refused to clarify so it’s all on the court system
Terrible article. Even worse advice.
On iOS at least, if you’re concerned about police breaking into your phone, you should be using a high entropy password, not a numeric PIN, and biometric auth is the best way to keep your convenience (and sanity) intact without compromising your security. This is because there is software that can break into a locked phone (even one that has biometrics disabled) by brute forcing the PIN, bypassing the 10 attempts limit if set, as well as not triggering iOS’s brute force protections, like forcing delays between attempts. If your password is sufficiently complex, then you’re more likely to be safe against such an attack.
I suspect the same is true on Android.
Such a search is supposed to require a warrant, but the tool itself doesn’t check for it, so you have to trust the individual LEOs in question to follow the law. And given that any 6 digit PIN can be brute forced in under 11 hours (40 ms per entry), this means that if you were arrested (even for a spurious charge) and held overnight, they could search your phone without you knowing.
With a password that has the same entropy as 10 random digits, assuming no further vulnerabilities allowing them to speed up the process, it could take up to 12 and a half years to brute force it. Make it alphanumeric (and still random) and it’s millions of years - infeasible within our lifetime - it’s basically a question of whether another vulnerability is already known or is discovered that enables bypassing the password entirely / much faster rates of entry.
If you’re in a situation where you expect to interact with law enforcement, then disable biometrics. Practice ahead of time to make sure you know how to do it on your phone.
Or they make a copy of your phone, alphanumeric password and all, and just sit on it for ten years until quantum computers make solving the password a piece of cake.
You should assume that any device confiscated by authorities will be copied and broken into eventually. Treat all data on said device as if it's already compromised.
Copying an iPhone isn’t as straightforward as you seem to think. Copying data from a locked iPhone requires either an exploit or direct access to the SSD / memory chips on the device (basically, chip-off forensics, which likely requires bypassing the storage controllers), and I assume the same is true for Android devices.
I’m not saying such exploits don’t exist, but local police departments don’t have access to them. And they certainly don’t have the capability to directly access your device’s storage and then reassemble it without your knowledge.
Now, if your device is confiscated for long enough that it could be mailed off to a forensics lab for analysis? Sure, then it’s a possibility. But most likely if they want your data that badly they’ll either hold onto your device, compel you into sharing the info with them, or try to trick you into giving it to them. Hanging onto your data without a warrant for over a decade is a high risk, low reward activity.
Your data’s more vulnerable to this sort of attack in transit.
Also, don't use regular passwords with random letters and numbers, they are really hard to remember and easier to crack if the password isn't complex enough. Instead, use a passphrase with at least 5 words.
Article doesn't even mention PIN. Where are you getting this "advice"?
It calls them “passwords,” but personally I don’t consider a 6 digit number to be a password. And according to this article on GrayKey, 6 digit “passcodes” became the norm back in 2015. I haven’t seen any stats showing that people on average use more secure passcodes now, and making the passcode required more frequently isn’t going to encourage anyone to use one that’s more secure.
The article just says “disable biometrics” which is bad advice for the average person, as it will result in them using a 6 digit passcode. This is a knee-jerk reaction at best, and the resulting advice is devoid of nuance, made by someone who clearly doesn’t understand the threat discussed in the article, and would benefit literally nobody who might feasibly take it.
My advice is echoed by the article above, but it’s based off having an understanding of the problem area and suggesting a solution that doesn’t just address one thing. Anyone giving advice on the topic should consider:
The author of this article considered none of the above.
He's not wrong though. Brute forcing number only pin takes little effort.
Yep. On Android there's also a Lockdown mode that you can enter through the power menu when you need to turn off biometrics for the next unlock. Set a strong password. Use biometrics when you need to keep out a casual intruder, and password when you need to keep out a major intruder.
100%.
If you’re always concerned about sophisticated attackers, then you should also:
(It might apply to other androids too, I don't know.)
You will now need a pin to unlock the phone. This disables the lock screen shortcut (camera, light, etc) as well.
Why disable your convence features for an scenerio that is not likely and can be quickly and easily be prevented.
Maybe don't do this one in front the cops...if you find your self in a postion where they are trying to unlock your phone, you probably don't want to piss them off. .
Edit: I'm surprised no one called me out on "if you're ever need to". The sentence was going to be "if you're even in a situation that needs...", but that was getting too long. Forgot to change you're to you.
On iOS just rapidly press the power button five times and it enters its lockdown state.
The Pixel fingerprint scanner is so bad, you could end up locking it entirely by accident.
Behind-the-screen fingerprint scanners are an abomination.
My 5a sensor is fantastic (it is on the back). I'll be sad when it's time for this phone to go.
Mine works without issues since I removed the white circle and the unlocking animations.
Behind-the-screen fingerprint scanners are an abomination.
Always reminds me of 1984's telescreens. We're almost there.
First gen in-screen scanners were absolute trash. Borderline unusable. But the tech has improved quite a lot since the first ones. The one in my galaxy tab s9's screen is fast and accurate.
This was new info to me! Can confirm it works on a Pixel w/ GrapheneOS
It's from AOSP, so any device close to the actual Android baseline should support that. This means that you can enter that mode from LineageOS as well.
I have a motorola razr (basically stock android) and I have the ability.
I've avoided willingly using biometrics so far. Though I'm sure our faces, gaits, body shapes, etc, are all stored somewhere, willingly or not.
Say no to biometrics. It's like having a password you can never change.
So, it really depends on your personal threat model.
For background: the biometric data doesn't leave the device, it uses an on-device recognition system to either unlock the device, or to gain access to a hardware security module that uses very strong cryptography for authentication.
Most people aren't defending against an attacker who has access to them and their device at the same time, they're defending against someone who has either the device or neither.
The hardware security module effectively eliminates the remote attacker when used with either biometric or PIN.
For the stolen or lost phone attack, biometric is slightly more secure, but it's moot because of the pin existing for fallback.
The biggest security advantage the biometrics have to offer is that they're very hard to forget, and very easy to use.
Ease of use means more people are likely to adopt the security features using that hardware security module provides, and that's what's really dialing up the security.
Passwords are most people's biggest vulnerability.
I've read all this before. If you believe the people who designed and implemented the device and its myriad layers of firmware and software were 1. All acting in good faith and 2. Knew WTF they were doing... then: yes, sure.
Unfortunately that's way too many strangers for me. Hundreds of people design and code these things. Meanwhile, every week there's a clever new breach somewhere.
it’s not a password; it’s closer to a username.
but realistically it’s not in my personal threat model to be ready to get tied down and forced to unlock my phone. everyone with windows on their house should know that security is mostly about how far an adversary is willing to go to try to steal from you.
personally, i like the natural daylight, and i’m not paranoid enough to brick up my windows just because it’s a potential ingress.
Joke’s on them. My yo-yo diet keeps me safe from accurate body shape biometrics.
Same here. Still using the pattern lock. I've never used fingerprint not to even mention face scan.
Why does this comic always give me Lain vibes
A stipulation of Payne’s parole agreement was that he be willing to provide a passcode to his devices, though that agreement didn’t explicitly refer to biometric data. However, the panel said the evidence from his phone was lawfully acquired “because it required no cognitive exertion, placing it in the same category as a blood draw or a fingerprint taken at booking, and merely provided [police] with access to a source of potential information.”
These both seem like bad calls. You have a right to privacy, right? And for police to access your files/home/phone tap requires obtaining a warrant.
Fingerprints at booking gives access to public records. Not your own personal private data. Pretty sure drawing blood is justified suspicion of DUI.
Yes and no. When you take parole, you agree to give up some freedoms in exchange for getting out of prison early. For example, taking drug tests, checking in with your parole officer, or not leaving the state/country. If your crime was related to using a phone or something, like being a drug dealer, then it can make sense to have to allow your parole officer to check it.
So after you have been convicted of a crime, you will have restrictions based on that crime. That's a world of difference from pulling over Bob and forcing him to unlock his phone.
No.
I’ve already planned to spam the lock button for a few seconds if something like that came up (iPhone) it triggers the emergency settings and disabled unlock without a passcode.
You can also just hold a volume button + power. That will bring up the power / emergency screen and will require a non biometric password for the next unlock.
For Android: learn the hard reset combo for your phone, especially if you encrypt it.
After rebooting, pattern/PIN will be required to decrypt the phone. Biometrics won't work for this step. This is what graphene does for security, tries to keep the phone in a "before first unlock" state by rebooting on a timer. You can't even read anything over USB/ADB, it's scrambled until you unlock the phone.
The only drawback to just keeping your phone in this state is none of your apps are loaded, so no notifications/updates/processing at all.
Just power down your phone. No phone allows initial unlock with bio data
You don't even need to do that. You can go to the power down menu on Android 14 and select lockdown. Even from the lock screen without unlocking the phone.
No.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California released a ruling that concluded state highway police were acting lawfully when they forcibly unlocked a suspect’s phone using their fingerprint.
The case didn’t get a lot of coverage, especially because the courts weren’t giving a blanket green light for every cop to shove your thumb to your screen during an arrest.
The ruling was also complicated by the fact that Payne was on parole at the time, back in 2021, when he was stopped by California Highway Patrol where he allegedly had a stash of narcotics including fentanyl, fluoro-fentanyl, and cocaine.
However, the panel said the evidence from his phone was lawfully acquired “because it required no cognitive exertion, placing it in the same category as a blood draw or a fingerprint taken at booking, and merely provided [police] with access to a source of potential information.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, has offered guides for best practices when attending protests, and one of those is to turn off your thumbprint or face unlock before you hit the street.
“The general consensus has been that there is more Fifth Amendment protection for passwords than there is for biometrics,” Andrew Crocker, the Surveillance Litigation Director at the EFF, told Gizmodo in a phone interview.
The original article contains 988 words, the summary contains 217 words. Saved 78%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I really think this depends largely on who you are and what you do with your phone. I have face recognition and fingerprint recognition both enabled on my phone. It's good enough to prevent a thief from gaining access to my device, and if law enforcement asked, there's nothing on my phone that could possibly be incriminating. Realistically, I'd have no issue just unlocking my phone and giving it to a police officer, although I do know well enough to always get a lawyer first. Biometrics add an extra layer of convenience; it's nice to just look at my phone and it unlocks. My concern personally is more about someone stealing my phone and accessing my accounts than self-incrimination.
If I ever was going to put myself in a situation where I'd run afoul of the authorities, I'd leave my phone at home anyway.
Sucks to be american. Sucks to live in america.
Why would anyone?
This is a dumb question. Almost 50 million people live in Sudan where there’s an ongoing famine. 70 million people live in UK where mass surveillance is roughly state supported. Asking why 300 million people don’t just move is … stupid
None of the cool countries are going to let massive amounts of Americans immigrate to them and nobody wants to go somewhere worse.
I'm very glad I had the opportunity to leave. Being bilingual makes it a lot more feasible.
I live in the UK. A judge can compel you under Section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to hand over any passwords for any devices or services they reasonably believe you have possession of the passwords for.
If you don't then you can be imprisoned for up to 2 years for normal crime or 5 years for crimes relating to national security or the production, possession or dissemination of CSAM
Stop using biometrics period.
Thank you.