6 ms·

I have to ask the morbid question, why couldn't they use the dead man's fingers directly?

CHaro 10y ago
My complete guess based is that the body is either already cremated, or in the hands of the family of the deceased. And they wouldn't exactly be jumping at the opportunity to let the police mess with their dead relative.
- justinlardinois 10y ago
  And they probably want something they could reliably continue to unlock the phone with. Sure, they could just remove all authentication once they're in, but maybe they want to tamper with the phone and its settings as little as possible.
  - weaksauce 10y ago
    I don't think you can make any changes to the security setting unless you know the passcode.
    - justinlardinois 10y ago
      Quite possibly. I don't think the article mentioned what kind of phone it is.
iaw 10y ago
I suspect deformation due to decomposition. Without doing any research I'd say that the decomposition process may rapidly change finger prints enough to no longer be recognized. Alternatively, and possibly more likely, as a murder victim there's any number of ways his fingerprints could have been obliterated.
Eric_WVGG 10y ago
In addition to the capacitive sensor, there's an RF sensor that apparently responds to living tissue, but not dead tissue. http://fortune.com/2013/09/16/apple-touch-id-and-the-fear-having-your-finger-chopped-off/ http://fortune.com/2013/09/16/apple-touch-id-and-the-fear-ha... I imagine there are some Frankensteinian ways to create the necessary current to activate the RF sensor, but… well, Frankenstein
- FireBeyond 10y ago
  Yeah, I'd take some of that with a grain of salt: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/23/iphone_6_still_vulnerable_to_touchid_fingerprint_hack/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/23/iphone_6_still_vulne... - glue fingerprint replica sufficient http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/02/iphone-touch-id-hacked-with-play-doh.html http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/02/iphone-touch-id-hacked-wi... - PlayDoh, dental paste
- scigeek42 10y ago
  In that case, couldn't they just coat the finger with the same stuff they're coating the 3D printed replica with? Actually, how are they getting around the RF issue?

CHaro 10y ago

My complete guess based is that the body is either already cremated, or in the hands of the family of the deceased. And they wouldn't exactly be jumping at the opportunity to let the police mess with their dead relative.

justinlardinois 10y ago
And they probably want something they could reliably continue to unlock the phone with. Sure, they could just remove all authentication once they're in, but maybe they want to tamper with the phone and its settings as little as possible.
- weaksauce 10y ago
  I don't think you can make any changes to the security setting unless you know the passcode.
  - justinlardinois 10y ago
    Quite possibly. I don't think the article mentioned what kind of phone it is.

iaw 10y ago

I suspect deformation due to decomposition. Without doing any research I'd say that the decomposition process may rapidly change finger prints enough to no longer be recognized. Alternatively, and possibly more likely, as a murder victim there's any number of ways his fingerprints could have been obliterated.

Eric_WVGG 10y ago

In addition to the capacitive sensor, there's an RF sensor that apparently responds to living tissue, but not dead tissue. http://fortune.com/2013/09/16/apple-touch-id-and-the-fear-having-your-finger-chopped-off/ http://fortune.com/2013/09/16/apple-touch-id-and-the-fear-ha... I imagine there are some Frankensteinian ways to create the necessary current to activate the RF sensor, but… well, Frankenstein

FireBeyond 10y ago
Yeah, I'd take some of that with a grain of salt: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/23/iphone_6_still_vulnerable_to_touchid_fingerprint_hack/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/23/iphone_6_still_vulne... - glue fingerprint replica sufficient http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/02/iphone-touch-id-hacked-with-play-doh.html http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/02/iphone-touch-id-hacked-wi... - PlayDoh, dental paste
scigeek42 10y ago
In that case, couldn't they just coat the finger with the same stuff they're coating the 3D printed replica with? Actually, how are they getting around the RF issue?