Biometrics (Face ID, fingerprint): what it is and whether it's safe
Biometrics uses your fingerprint or your face to unlock your phone instantly. It's convenient, but it isn't your password: there's always one behind it that you still need to know.
- What it is
- Unlocking by fingerprint or face
- Since
- 2013 (fingerprint), 2017 (face)
- Verdict
- Yes, but…
What it is
Biometrics identifies a physical trait of yours (a fingerprint, the shape of your face) and compares it against an encrypted copy stored on the device itself. If it matches, the phone unlocks or a payment is confirmed, without you typing anything.
It's faster than a PIN, but technically it doesn't replace a password: underneath Face ID or your fingerprint there's still a PIN or master password for the device or the app. When the phone restarts, or if biometrics fails a few times, it asks for it again.
When it was introduced
Apple added the Touch ID fingerprint reader to the iPhone 5s, on sale from September 20, 2013. Facial recognition arrived with the iPhone X, unveiled on September 12, 2017 with the Face ID system. On the desktop, Microsoft introduced Windows Hello on March 17, 2015, bringing fingerprint, face and iris recognition to Windows 10 PCs.
Why it's used
It protects against someone peeking over your shoulder while you type a PIN, and it's nearly instant. For unlocking your phone twenty times a day, it's the sensible choice.
The flip side: if you rely on your face or fingerprint so much that you no longer remember your master password, a restart, an update or a new phone leaves you stuck in front of a text box you don't know how to fill in. Biometrics doesn't travel from one phone to another; the password behind it still has to live in your head.
The same thing happens when setting up a new phone: before you can register your fingerprint or face on the brand-new device, the system asks for the password from the previous one or from your account. If you don't have it, biometrics on the new phone never even gets activated.
Should you use it?
Yes, for day-to-day unlocking, never as an excuse not to know your master password. Your finger or face opens the lock; the real key is still the password.
Check this
- Do you know your master password by heart, without the phone filling it in for you?
- Have you ever logged in with just that password, without using your fingerprint or face?
- Do you still keep a PIN or password alongside biometrics, not instead of it?
Official sources: Apple Newsroom · Official Windows blog