Automatic heart-beat recognition authentication for iPhone users?
To make iPhones and iPads more secure, Apple is considering implementing automatic biometric authentication technologies on the devices; the authentication procedure will lock the device and wipe all data on it in the event an unauthorized user tries to operate it; the technology may also report back to Apple in the event customers have jailbroken or unlocked the device, allowing the company to deny services to these customers
At times it appears that Apple is preoccupied with finding ways to keep their iPhone and iPod devices secure from the ever-present threat of users looking to jailbreak their smartphone/media player, but the Cupertino, California-based company is also considering using biometric heartbeat sensors to verify authorized users.
We recently wrote about Apple’s patent application involving heartbeat recognition technology (“Apple patents heartbeat-recognition sensors for iPhone,” 11 May 2010 HSNW). The patent application is part of a recent move by Apple to make its devices more secure. The company, for example, plans to lock down or remote-wipe data on iPhones that have been deemed jailbroken or unlocked.
Will Park writes that the technology behind heart-beat recognition is impressive. The idea that a smartphone could use integrated sensors automatically to detect users via heartbeat patterns, voice patterns, and pictures of users’ faces solves one of the initial obstacles to artificial intelligence — the ability accurately to identify people.
Park notes, though, that there are privacy concerns at stake here. “Worse yet, there is the unsettling potential that your iPhone could turn snitch on your biometric readings, should you decide to jailbreak your phone,” he writes:
Think about it. Upon detecting that you’re running a jailbroken or unlocked iPhone, this technology could very well report to Apple your unique biometric signature for future reference. From that point on, you could be tagged in some Apple customer service computer as a person to scrutinize when it comes time for warranty repairs or other customer service matters.
There is an upside: it would be nice to know that your wayward iPhone was capable of detecting an unauthorized user and alerting authorities (and you, the phone’s owner, of course) that it is in the process of being “misappropriated” — perhaps even before you realized that the handset was no longer in your pocket or purse.
Park notes that Apple’s Find My iPhone feature in its MobileMe service does a great job of tracking the phone and wiping all data (should it come to that), but this is only possible if you A) know that your phone is missing, and B) have a computer nearby to lock/wipe the handset.
Users of iPhone may be faced with a dilemma of deciding who is the worse adversary: thieves who may steal and use the smartphone, or Apple’s customer service department — famous for being on top of its game — which will be in a position to deny service on your device because they will now know that your unique biometric signature has been associated with a jailbroken, unlocked, or otherwise hacked iPhone.
