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It has been said many times already, biometric data is not a password it is a login/user name.
by concerned_user 8y ago
It has been said many times already, biometric data is not a password it is a login/user name.
- evfanknitram 8y agoBut isn't it still a stronger form of authentication than the average password? I would not use it for authentication against the missile launch system, but my ex will probably not chop of my finger to access my Facebook account, nor will random bots trying to access my Gmail account.
- trumped 8y agonot really, because once it gets compromised, you are screwed because you can't really change it.
- Eyght 8y agoMaybe those people with facial tattoos are onto something.
- cornholio 8y agoYet, she can use 50$ kits to lift and scan a fingerprint from your belongings.
- UncleMeat 8y agoShe can, but the threat model here is so amazingly different than traditional threat models for username/pw that it is ridiculous to say that biometrics are usernames. Biometrics are biometrics. They are simply different. They have different threat models and failure modes than passwords. They are neither better nor worse.
- cornholio 8y agoIt's an analogy that captures the essence of the problem framed in a way most people can understand it: with biometrics there is no shared secret, just a high entropy, non-revocable and very public UID. Yes, public in a different model, with a different set of threats, but that's irrelevant to what the analogy is trying to convey. It's a human trait to evaluate and disseminate new concepts though existing concepts. Everything is unique, if you want to refine or disprove the analogy it's not enough to call it wrong repeatedly, you need to accept that specific frame of reference is suggestive to those who chose it, and formulate your arguments from that perspective.
- evfanknitram 8y agoSo it's more expensive than trying to guess which of my cats name I used as password then.
- curun1r 8y agoAnd it's been wrong every time. Biometric data is a form of identity, as is the combination of username and password. Different forms of identity have different security trade-offs and removing nuance by comparing it to a single component of different form of identity is always counter-productive. Biometric authentication is its own thing with its own security characteristics that need to be understood outside the context of what we know about usernames and passwords.
- csydas 8y agoWell, I think that's what people are mostly concerned about. The current considerations regarding biometrics is that it ultimately results in an immutable means of identification that cannot be revoked. With IRL identification (passports, driver's licenses, state issued IDs), these all have means of being revoked in some way with varying degrees of efficacy. Therein lies the issue with Biometric data being both username and password, for the most part. That most of the data is easily replicable aside, the fact is that you cannot control the cycle of your "credentials regeneration" since you're tied to the aging process. On top of that, the regeneration is even fairly predictable with current and past technology, and even non-technical solutions could accurately predict the physical changes in a person as they age. Biometric data is a matter of convenience, not really security. Combine with an additional password, it at least serves the role of a Username well. For low-value items, it can make sense, provided proper pre-cautions are taken for actually sensitive data. (e.g., unlocking your phone is fine provided that sensitive data is protected with additional precautions).