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> As for fingerprints versus facial recognition, the article claims fingerprints are better, but I’m skeptical. For one thing, my phone is covered in my own fin

> As for fingerprints versus facial recognition, the article claims fingerprints are better, but I’m skeptical. For one thing, my phone is covered in my own fingerprints, so getting something to copy is a lot easier. Would it be possible to have a really secure phone that had fake fingerprints added to the material of the surface of the phone? I'm only half-serious, but it might make lifting the real prints harder... (maybe it is trivial to distinguish prints made on a surface from those in the structure of the surface)

coldtea 9y ago
>Would it be possible to have a really secure phone that had fake fingerprints added to the material of the surface of the phone? Because we don't touch 20000 other objects every day from where someone can pick our fingertips from?
- GrinningFool 9y ago
  _>Because we don't touch 20000 other objects every day from where someone can pick our fingertips from?_ We're less likely to lose one of those objects at the same place and time we leave our phone somewhere. It's comparable to leaving your keys in your car. Sure, someone could find those keys where you lost them and then find your car - but is sure is easier for them when they're both in the same place.
  - joesb 9y ago
    > We're less likely to lose one of those objects at the same place and time we leave our phone somewhere. I think it's very likely that you touch something at the place where you left you phone, assuming that it wasn't dropped while you were moving.
    - oneweekwonder 9y ago
      or good old tactics wonderfully illustrated in the xkcd: Security[0] cartoon. [0]: https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/
    - seandougall 9y ago
      But you usually don’t draw a circle around the relevant print and leave a note saying “use this one to unlock my phone” (unlike the Touch ID sensor).
mikeash 9y ago
I suspect that any solution along these lines would be easy to break, because real fingerprints aren't permanent. If all else fails, make a high-resolution scan of the entire phone, then clean it and make another one. The fingerprints that are no longer present in the second scan are the real ones. You might have a better shot at coming up with some material that just doesn't get fingerprints on it in the first place. Maybe a cloth-covered phone?
eric_h 9y ago
> maybe it is trivial to distinguish prints made on a surface from those in the structure of the surface I believe it is. Fingerprints left on a surface are made with oils from the skin and are "lifted" off by applying a substance that sticks to it and literally lifting the print off the surface.

coldtea 9y ago

>Would it be possible to have a really secure phone that had fake fingerprints added to the material of the surface of the phone? Because we don't touch 20000 other objects every day from where someone can pick our fingertips from?

GrinningFool 9y ago
_>Because we don't touch 20000 other objects every day from where someone can pick our fingertips from?_ We're less likely to lose one of those objects at the same place and time we leave our phone somewhere. It's comparable to leaving your keys in your car. Sure, someone could find those keys where you lost them and then find your car - but is sure is easier for them when they're both in the same place.
- joesb 9y ago
  > We're less likely to lose one of those objects at the same place and time we leave our phone somewhere. I think it's very likely that you touch something at the place where you left you phone, assuming that it wasn't dropped while you were moving.
  - oneweekwonder 9y ago
    or good old tactics wonderfully illustrated in the xkcd: Security[0] cartoon. [0]: https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/
  - seandougall 9y ago
    But you usually don’t draw a circle around the relevant print and leave a note saying “use this one to unlock my phone” (unlike the Touch ID sensor).

mikeash 9y ago

I suspect that any solution along these lines would be easy to break, because real fingerprints aren't permanent. If all else fails, make a high-resolution scan of the entire phone, then clean it and make another one. The fingerprints that are no longer present in the second scan are the real ones. You might have a better shot at coming up with some material that just doesn't get fingerprints on it in the first place. Maybe a cloth-covered phone?

eric_h 9y ago

> maybe it is trivial to distinguish prints made on a surface from those in the structure of the surface I believe it is. Fingerprints left on a surface are made with oils from the skin and are "lifted" off by applying a substance that sticks to it and literally lifting the print off the surface.