Apple’s Face ID Is Another Step Toward the End of Anonymity
How Face ID affects the Fifth Amendment and opens the door for law enforcement to have easier access to your phone
By now, you’re likely familiar with the iPhone X’s ability to use facial recognition technology to unlock your phone with “just a look.” You’ve also probably seen the commercials where “animojis” (Apple’s animated emojis) jam out to Big Boi’s “All Night,” perfectly matching their owners’ facial expressions. It’s all fun and games, and just one more development from Apple, perhaps in an attempt to reverse the direction of plateauing iPhone sales over the past few years.
As we continue to develop smartphones that requires less and less effort from us to bypass security measures, we are opening ourselves up to a range of problems — from Fifth Amendment implications to privacy concerns. Apple’s Face ID program is perhaps the highest-profile example of consumer-oriented facial recognition programs like these, but in a competitive smartphone industry, others are likely to follow suit and develop similar ones.
