Not really a problem unless the person who finds your phone has your picture and knows who you are. I'm wondering if it can recognize you when you're asleep, cuz that's how prying girlfriends and wives will figure out if you've been sexting some slut or not.

I wonder how vulnerable it is to brute force attacks. A few months ago there was an article about a similar feature on HP laptops, which was easily hacked by displaying a hundred/thousand random faces in a slideshow.

/to be fair, failing to a brute force attack is still worse than failing to a photo of the legitimate user

This reminds me of when they tested thumb sensors on Mythbusters.

Trusting your personal data to something on the biometric data of the outside of your body is an incredibly stupid idea. If all I have to do to break into your stuff is get a photo of you, that's not even a challenge.

The argument for facial recognition on your phone is not that it's 100% perfectly safe, but it's convient enough to use so people actually use it rather than just living the phone on "slide to unlock" mode. Plus usually you're defending your phone from random people on the street, not a friend who has your picture

Only solution: Make phones with those little prick-things people with diabetes have to do a DNA test.

Oh wait, but then all you have to do is stab the guy whose phone it is to get their blood. NEVER MIND

_{What was so horribly wrong with passwords?}

dookdookdook: Only solution: Make phones with those little prick-things people with diabetes have to do a DNA test.

Oh wait, but then all you have to do is stab the guy whose phone it is to get their blood. NEVER MIND

What was so horribly wrong with passwords?

In this case, the problem is people don't use them. Biometrics are also generally used as they're resistant to brute-force attack (though a poor facial recognition pattern can be vulnerable to this as has been said) and as part of a multi-step validation scheme.

Problem with phones is people want instant access to their phones and typing a password is even more annoying than on PC (where many people still neglect passwords). Solving the convenience problem at least makes them safer than no method of validation at all, in fact it makes them vastly more secure in almost any situation.

The odds that someone is able to access your physical phone, knows you use facial recognition, knows who's phone it is, and has access to a picture (and thinks to have it on their person) is extremely slim compared to the odds that someone will find your phone (the ONLY requirement for use of a phone with no authentication.)

Maybe the problem is he's holding the phone wrong.

Did he ever think of that????

/Apple certainly did.

Pretty sure they have said that this is more of a "neat feature" than a security measure. They ranked this just above the "slide to unlock", security wise.

Password protect not a option anymore?
/I had ex's looking in my phone for shiat before

From the comments:

"And this is what separates Apple from Android.. I will put my money that if/when this comes out for Apple devices, this problem wouldn't even exist. Android developers are too quick to get things out on the market, whereas Apple developers fully test and put a lot of thought into what they're building.

Comparing Android to Apple is like comparing a TV dinner to a 5 star steak restaurant.. It might fill you up, but I highly doubt you'll be satisfied with your meal."

Here's the apple fanboy people tend to hate. Yes, they do exist.

It failed during the demo because of makeup.
Who believed this was anywhere near ready for prime time?

So I should point the screen at their face after I steal their phone but before I run?

change1211: From the comments:

"And this is what separates Apple from Android.. I will put my money that if/when this comes out for Apple devices, this problem wouldn't even exist. Android developers are too quick to get things out on the market, whereas Apple developers fully test and put a lot of thought into what they're building.

Comparing Android to Apple is like comparing a TV dinner to a 5 star steak restaurant.. It might fill you up, but I highly doubt you'll be satisfied with your meal."

Here's the apple fanboy people tend to hate. Yes, they do exist.

I wonder what this douchebag thinks of the iCloud battery drain issues.

I find the gestures lock is even faster to use than a 4 digit PIN lock.

skinink: I find the gestures lock is even faster to use than a 4 digit PIN lock.

I want to be able to give my phone the bird and have it unlock.

Herr Flick's Revenge: It failed during the demo because of makeup.
Who believed this was anywhere near ready for prime time?

It failed during the demo because of low light. Which is why the face unlock feature requires you to have a secondary unlock option set up.

drjekel_mrhyde: Password protect not a option anymore?
/I had ex's looking in my phone for shiat before

PIN number is an option.

just have 2 cameras, 3d reconstruction software and hey presto security is multiplied. now you need a dummy.

So record video of you saying your password, in 3d, take DNA, blood pressure, resting heart rate, iris including reaction to light, stool sample, and first born son as ID.

Would THAT be safe enough to hide your super secret diary?

My security plan: dont put shiat on my phone id be upset about losing

I have my phone locked mostly to keep my friends and coworkers from posting to facebook and/or changing my phone numbers. (I still love doing that to people, change their girlfriend's number to their dad's and such.) I have an android phone that reads my fingerprint, a quick swipe across the sensor and it unlocks. Works about 95% of the time on the first try. Doesn't always unlock after I have been surfing and my fingers are all wrinkled. So it has a back-up number code. I didn't think it was that big a deal when I got the phone, now love it. I see no reason to go to face recognition, this works very well and you can unlock the phone without looking at it.

Rent is too damn high: Not really a problem unless the person who finds your phone has your picture and knows who you are. I'm wondering if it can recognize you when you're asleep, cuz that's how prying girlfriends and wives will figure out if you've been sexting some slut or not.

Its a major problem because basing an authentication mechanism on a picture is completely stupid and keeps corporations from adopting Android.

bravian: Rent is too damn high: Not really a problem unless the person who finds your phone has your picture and knows who you are. I'm wondering if it can recognize you when you're asleep, cuz that's how prying girlfriends and wives will figure out if you've been sexting some slut or not.

Its a major problem because basing an authentication mechanism on a picture is completely stupid and keeps corporations from adopting Android.

Um, you do realize it's optional, right? You can still use a passcode, password, or pattern lock. They even say that this is a low security option.

drjekel_mrhyde: Password protect not a option anymore?
/I had ex's looking in my phone for shiat before

Maybe you don't hide evidence of your affairs on your real phone

You're the jerk... jerk: drjekel_mrhyde: Password protect not a option anymore?
/I had ex's looking in my phone for shiat before

Maybe you don't hide evidence of your affairs on your real phone

No affairs just silly photos I steal off fark.com

Hmm. On my honeycomb tablet, when you set up a lock screen you can enter personal information about yourself, which I think is a good idea in case a good Samaritan finds your device and wants to return it. But it could backfire if you're relying on facial recognition to protect you from strangers. Because really, all someone would have to do is search for me on facebook and find a picture to get into my device. (Of course by then, I'd probably have remote wiped it.)

But yeah, it was probably developed to add a wow factor that nobody is actually going to use after a couple months. Like Siri

Herr Flick's Revenge: It failed during the demo because of makeup.
Who believed this was anywhere near ready for prime time?

It's a Google thing. It will never be ready for prime time, but they'll have 10 other poorly implemented "next big things" out soon, and you'll forget all about this one before they quietly abandon it.

Herr Flick's Revenge: It failed during the demo because of makeup.
Who believed this was anywhere near ready for prime time?

Use a black and white image?

This is why Android 5.0 will feature genital recognition software. If youre not a Brett Favre, youll have nothing to worry about.

bravian: Rent is too damn high: Not really a problem unless the person who finds your phone has your picture and knows who you are. I'm wondering if it can recognize you when you're asleep, cuz that's how prying girlfriends and wives will figure out if you've been sexting some slut or not.

Its a major problem because basing an authentication mechanism on a picture is completely stupid and keeps corporations from adopting Android.

With cell phones being so cheap, why wouldn't a cheater have a second phone if their slumming around? Hell, on my Android I have Google Talk, which is really versatile and do all sorts of things regarding any calls and your own number, and even gives you a brand new number so you can have two at the same time.

drjekel_mrhyde: You're the jerk... jerk: drjekel_mrhyde: Password protect not a option anymore?
/I had ex's looking in my phone for shiat before

Maybe you don't hide evidence of your affairs on your real phone

No affairs just silly photos I steal off fark.com

I see, the current lady knows your fark handle then.

Yeah, I think it's obvious they jump the shark with facial recognition when it screwed up during the first public demonstration. They stilll have normal password protection so it's all good, but no one sensible is going to use facial recognition beside fooling around with friends.

change1211: From the comments:

"And this is what separates Apple from Android.. I will put my money that if/when this comes out for Apple devices, this problem wouldn't even exist. Android developers are too quick to get things out on the market, whereas Apple developers fully test and put a lot of thought into what they're building.

Comparing Android to Apple is like comparing a TV dinner to a 5 star steak restaurant.. It might fill you up, but I highly doubt you'll be satisfied with your meal."

Here's the apple fanboy people tend to hate. Yes, they do exist.

Oh, so that explains why it took Apple a full year to put in a compass and GPS after Android devices had them. See, those greedy Android developers rushed... a compass. Apple however took their time and did quality control on their compass technology, they put a lot of thought into how to make it work.

/such an ingenious argument.
//Apple invents something first and others copy it? OMG Apple is king of innovention!
///Android invents something and Apple copies it? OMG Apple takes their time, others rush it and they are bad for doing so!

don't lose your phone

/problem solved