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Comment on Stop Using Your Face or Thumb to Unlock Your Phone

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.

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ricecake@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
While I do respect that viewpoint, there’s a lot more independent scrutiny of the hardware modules than there are around the parts that would handle any other authentication mechanism you might use.

Pixel phone example iPhone example

Just because something isn’t perfect doesn’t mean we should keep using the less good thing that it replaces.

Use the PIN if that’s more your cup of tea, just so long as you move away from passwords, since it’s the HSM that’s the protection, not the biometrics. Those are just to make it easier than passwords.

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- Boozilla@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  You can change PINs and passwords, but you cannot change your biometric data.
  
  It’s about as smart as using your SSN as your username.
  
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  - ricecake@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    The point being that most people do not need to ever change their biometric data, because it isn’t used for remote authentication.
    
    It’s about picking the right threat model, and for most people anything that gets them using the HSM is an improvement to their security.
    
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lolcatnip@reddthat.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If you’re that afraid if the people who build phones, why are you ok with using any device that can access the internet?

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- Boozilla@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I like how being cautious with my biometric data is beung framed as irrational fear and paranoia. As if ID theft never happens.
  
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  - lolcatnip@reddthat.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Using biometric data to unlock your phone does not make you more vulnerable to petty criminals.
    
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  - RGB3x3@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You should be more worried about your local doctor’s office contracting some cheap-ass company to handle your data and ending up in a branch that being concerned about biometrics.
    
    Or hell, Experian had that insane breach of basically everyone’s information years ago. Biometrics are not the problem, it’s smaller companies that you have to deal with all the time skimping on security because they think they can’t afford it.
    
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