Facial recognition sounds promising and interesting to use but technology has plenty of problems. It’s not really safe according to several sources already. We noted such system offers higher errors for non-white subjects. We noted the 3D facial recognition technology would be delayed until late 2018 but looks like whoever is making the system may need to do further homework because more experts are saying it’s not always safe. We can agree to this statement because we’ve experienced how sensitive some phones can be. Personally, I use a phone that reads my face even in the dark.
Just last month, we told you facial recognition technology on Android was easily fooled by a fake head. The face unlock technology may be coming to more phones especially since Android has been working on the long overdue standard face recognition support.
Samsung has the Intelligent Scan feature. LG also has a similar scanning feature.
We reported the Galaxy S8’s facial recognition feature was compromised with a photo. This 2019, we’re learning more that it is really not safe. A number of phones are easily unlockable but the number is only about 38% of the 110 phones observed.
Some 42 phones were unlocked by simply using a photo of the phone consumer. This means a good image of a phone owner is enough to get in. For the thieves, you might as well steal a picture of the person so you can easily unlock the phone when needed.
Popular smartphones include in the unpopular devices that can easily be unlocked include the Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact, Samsung Galaxy A7 and A8, Huawei P20/P20 Lite and P20 Pro, and the Nokia 3.1 and 7.1.
Interestingly, other phones didn’t let a fake photo get through like the new Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro plus the Samsung Galaxy S9/9 + and Note 9.
Listed below are phones that can be unlocked with a photo as per a test by Consumentenbond. We suggest you change the security and unlocking option.
• Alcatel 1X
• Asus Zenfone 5 Lite 64 GB, Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL (64 GB)
• BlackBerry Key2, BlackBerry Key2 (US version)
• BQ Aquaris X2, BQ Aquaris X2 Pro
• General Mobile GM8
• HTC U11 +
• Huawei P20 (EML – L29), Huawei P20 Lite, Huawei P20 Pro (CLT – L29)
• Lenovo Motorola Moto E5, Lenovo Motorola Moto E5 (BR version), Lenovo Motorola Moto E5 Plus (BR version), Lenovo Motorola Moto G6 Play
• LG K9 (LM-X210EMW), LG Q6 Alpha (LG-M700n)
• Motorola Moto G6 Play (BR version), Motorola One
• Nokia 3.1, Nokia 3.1 (US version), Nokia 7.1
• Oukitel VU
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018), Samsung Galaxy A8 (32GB) (SM-A530F / DS, Samsung Galaxy A8 (64 GB), Samsung Galaxy A8 + (SM-A730F), Samsung Galaxy J8 Brasil
• Sony Xperia L2 (H3311), Sony Xperia L2 (H3321), Sony Xperia XZ2 (H8216), Sony Xperia XZ2 (US version), Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact (H8314), Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact (US version), Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact Dual SIM (H8324), Sony Xperia XZ2 Dual SIM (H8266), Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (US version), Sony Xperia XZ3
• Vodafone Smart N9
• Xiaomi Mi A2, Xiaomi Mi A2 (32GB)
VIA: consumentenbond
