News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by bleachedsleet on Friday October 22, 2021 @01:55PM (#28960355)
Also, if you do use biometrics and ever find yourself in a sticky situation most modern operating systems have built in features to quickly disable them on demand. iOS, for example, allows you to quickly disable Face/Touch ID by holding the side+any volume button for two seconds and then quickly tap the side button again when the shutdown slide appears.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by kingcharles on Friday October 22, 2021 @02:32PM (#28960793)
Probably won't have time. I had a loaded gun pointed at my head and told not to touch my phone. Had every reason to believe they would have fired.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by boppo1 on Friday October 22, 2021 @06:27PM (#28963540)
You have to tell this story.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by HeavyStorm on Friday October 22, 2021 @05:37PM (#28963054)
Nobody else is going to ask the parent what was that?
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by DantesKite on Friday October 22, 2021 @06:20PM (#28963488)
Why did the police point a gun at your head?
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by atatatat on Friday October 22, 2021 @11:59PM (#28965584)
United States
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by steelframe on Friday October 22, 2021 @03:46PM (#28961762)
With iPhones you can say, "Hey Siri, whose phone is this?" That will disable biometric unlock.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by mekal on Friday October 22, 2021 @04:05PM (#28962051)
I just tried this with my iphone 11, just out of curiosity... Siri ratted me out and my face still unlocked it.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by steelframe on Friday October 22, 2021 @06:13PM (#28963418)
I'm running iOS 15.0.2 on an iPhone 12 Pro. The response I got was, "I believe this iPhone belongs to Bob," where "Bob" is my first name. Then Face ID was disabled, and the only way I could unlock my phone was with my passcode.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by jakelazaroff on Saturday October 23, 2021 @10:12PM (#28974302)
Also running iOS 15.0.2. This did not disable biometric unlock. Don’t mess with Siri, just hold down the power button and either volume button simultaneously for a few seconds.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by hackmiester on Wednesday October 27, 2021 @11:36PM (#29022100)
Be sure not to look at your phone when you test it! If it sees your face and unlocks before the command is processed, it doesn't work.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by charlieo88 on Monday October 25, 2021 @05:51PM (#28993593)
iPhone 7 plus runing 15.0.2, my biometrics unlock was disabled until I put in the password.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by hackmiester on Wednesday October 27, 2021 @11:36PM (#29022097)
Be sure not to look at your phone when you test it!
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by chimeracoder on Friday October 22, 2021 @04:51PM (#28962580)
> iOS, for example, allows you to quickly disable Face/Touch ID by holding the side+any volume button for two seconds and then quickly tap the side button again when the shutdown slide appears

Android unfortunately doesn't have anything like this enabled by default, and what it allows you to enable is much more limited.

Lockdown mode[0] has to be enabled manually (it's hidden deep in setting that most people won't notice), and all it does is add an additional soft button when you long-press the power button. That button will disable biometric unlocking and hide notifications, but only until the phone is next unlocked.

Unfortunately, in situations where you might want to use this, long-pressing the button and then having to tap the screen is cumbersome.

To be fair, the third button is the power button, which will turn off the device and is effectively another way of disabling the biometric unlocking. So if you randomly press the top of the screen, you have a 2/3 chance of locking your phone as desired... and a 1/3 chance of calling 911 instead (which may make the situation worse).

https://screenrant.com/android-lockdown-mode-purpose-enable-...

Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by pahomov on Friday October 22, 2021 @09:32PM (#28964823)
My android (meizu) disables fingerprint unlock after entering SOS mode by pressing power button 5 times. It was enabled by default. I dont'know if this applies to all androids. It works for iphone. This method is easier to do without looking at the screen.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by chimeracoder on Friday October 22, 2021 @10:42PM (#28965210)
> My android (meizu) disables fingerprint unlock after entering SOS mode by pressing power button 5 times. It was enabled by default. I dont'know if this applies to all androids.

That's your particular phone. It does not apply to most Android phones.

Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by Ikatza on Friday October 22, 2021 @06:23PM (#28963514)
Not really. I have a gesture programmed in Nova Launcher to disable biometrics with a pinch. The system allows you to do many more things than iOS, just not put of the box.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by chimeracoder on Friday October 22, 2021 @06:29PM (#28963552)
> Not really. I have a gesture programmed in Nova Launcher to disable biometrics with a pinch

The original statement was

> most modern operating systems have built in features to quickly disable them on demand

A custom-made gesture using a third-party launcher is not built-in (to say nothing of whether that's accessible or feasible for the vast majority of Android users).

Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by atatatat on Saturday October 23, 2021 @12:02AM (#28965600)
All that matters is the result.

Most users would be okay with having these features only available through the Apple App Store.

Instead, the result is none of those features on their phone.

Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by l3s2d on Friday October 22, 2021 @06:34PM (#28963599)
I believe lockdown mode is available in the power menu by default in Android 12.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by zizee on Friday October 22, 2021 @08:15PM (#28964410)
If you are ever expecting to be in a situation where a) you have incriminating evidence on you phone, and b) have reason to believe the police will likely try and get access to it at some unpredictable time in the future, I think you'd just be wise to not use biometrics at all.
Re:Police can’t demand you reveal your phone passcode then t... by lathiat on Friday October 22, 2021 @08:18PM (#28964431)