Our Opinion

Phil admits to being a “total Apple slave,” but also notes Face ID gives him pause. He feels it’s great that the technology will know the difference between an accurate 3D mask of a face and the actual face. But someone stealing his face is not what he objects to – “it’s the fact it might not work at some crucial time, and my actual face being a bit of data out there in the wild.” Something about it feels invasive to him. Fabio doesn’t trust it at all, as “I think you’re just giving the government more info about yourself.” Even though they say your information isn’t shared, he doesn’t believe them, and that’s how he feels about all technologies. Nicholas agrees with Fabio. “It’s more power to the government and less freedom to device users.” He refuses to use any identity technologies of any kind.

Kenneth believes that the iPhone’s new Face ID seems more significant, but only time will tell whether the impact will prove to be positive or negative. For security, though, he would only trust it if it would only unlock with a smile, as then it would know when he was under duress. Alex thinks it’s surprising to hear so many concerned their info will be shared with the government, as “it’s not as if the government doesn’t already have images of your face” and “if Apple were to share information with the government, that would be shocking, especially for a company that has chosen to make privacy a tent pole of its sales pitch.” His concern would be that a face or fingerprint can’t ever be changed, limiting its usefulness. I have to say I agree with Alex. I’m not very paranoid about government finding out my info, as they can easily find whatever information they want about you anyway. They already know what I look like and already know everything they want to. But when automatically identifying my face in pictures, technology doesn’t always know it’s me, and sometimes it’s hard to get my fingerprint sensor just right, so I worry about that, similarly to Phil. But I have no security concerns with it.

Your Opinion

What are your thoughts? Do you worry about the government in connection with using Face ID technology, or do you worry about it not working physically? Do you trust Face ID technology for your devices? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.