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Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

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Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#631

Post by lfuller »

anchorsteam wrote: post #545
samstave wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You called discussing the NSA spying on everyone, subverting the American system as well as the faith in the constitution similar to evangelising that Jesus loves you? Wow - that has to be hands down the absolute most ignorant, ridiculous and bullshit comment I have ever read on HN. This is The Best place to be talking about the National Security Agency Technologically spying on everyone, building in parallel infra a…

He did no such thing. Making a passing reference to the NSA whenever remotely possible is not discussion, let alone action. Perhaps we could leave such talk to the submissions that are actually about the NSA? Believe it or not, many of us are already familliar with the topic; as we are of Jesus.

I don't think that this was a passing reference - a passing reference would have been him saying "I wonder if the NSA can read my text messages on this phone" when texting is an expected feature on any modern phone.

Fingerprint scanners are not yet prevalent in modern smartphones, and fingerprints are one of the primary ways that law enforcement can trace / track individuals. If the NSA, which has already been shown to have backdoors into Apple's systems, was able to access fingerprint data on a massive scale, this would be a massive affront to privacy for millions of users around the world.

pilif's comment was absolutely relevant to discussion of the iPhone 5S launch, as one of the phone's primary new features has the potential to be a massive security and privacy breach given information we've recently learned regarding Apple's close relationship with the NSA.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#632

Post by ricardobeat »

makmanalp wrote: post #572
davidcollantes wrote: post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is my fingerprint. Why shouldn't I trust it?

It's not about your fingerprint though. It's just that cheap scanners are easy to trick and you leave fingerprints everywhere, including on the very surface you scan it on.

Scanners like the one used only work with live fingers, and read geometry deeper than the surface. You're not going to trigger it with an ordinary collected fingerprint.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#633

Post by rabino »

pilif wrote: post #73

Now that we have to consider the iPhones to be backdoored by the NSA, I wonder whether I really want to give them my fingerprint together with the rest of my data. I'm also not so sure whether a fingerprint can't still be easily faked (like it was possible on that Mythbusters episode for example). Personally, I think I'd rather stay with my passcode. Did you btw know that you can turn off "simple passcode" and then u…

Government has my fingerprint already. You need to give it to them every time you go through customs.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#634

Post by glitchdout »

kisielk wrote: post #380
gfodor wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question -- what is the big deal if someone gets your fingerprints? I can't think of the last time my fingerprint was used as some infallible method of identification, if ever. If the spooks want it, they already have it. I'd rather someone get their hands on my fingerprint than my passport, driver's license, and credit cards, and it seems much more difficult to steal than those things. I think the fingerprin…

Exactly. I've already had to give my fingerprint numerous times at the airport just to enter the United States. I figure the US government must already have it in numerous databases, so it's not a concern if they've backdoored Apple's devices to copy them again.

What if I've never been to the US? I'm sorry, I don't follow your "logic".

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#635

Post by ricardobeat »

Macha wrote: post #497
allsystemsgo wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took quite some time for me to fill up the 16GB. I'm more of a power user now, so I'll be upgrading to the 32GB but, for most 16GB is plenty.

My Desire HD has a 32GB SD card now because the 16GB was full with music, videos and game ROMs. That 32 is pretty close to full now. My younger brother has filled up two 16GB iPod Touches (second gen and fourth gen) with music and videos. My extremely non-technical father has filled up the 8GB SD card his phone came with, with just music. I'm sure if he could, he'd use more space but a €30 microSD card is more than h…

Streaming. There is no reason to carry a complete copy of your music/video library around with you. If you think there is, the iPod Classic is made for you :)

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#637

Post by LaGrange »

minor_nitwit wrote: post #581
simonholroyd wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I'm very careful with my fingerprints. What does that even mean? You wear gloves in public all the time? You wipe down everything you touch? Which makes me wonder, aren't one's finger prints all over your iPhone exterior anyway. If someone steals one's phone wouldn't it be easier to dust it for prints than crack the security on the digital copy?

Which makes the idea of a fingerprint reader on a phone somewhat nonsensical. Your password is all over the phone, and Mythbusters has proven how easy these are to fake.

Actually, it doesn't, because properly used biometric isn't a sole auth method. You want to use it coupled with at least a pin - then suddenly just looking over your shoulder isn't enough, you have to handle the phone carefully, or steal the fingerprints off your glass. That's more work, and makes it more costly and skill intensive. It's not impenetrable, but still quite efficient.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#638

Post by ricardobeat »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #586
nutate wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new PayPal Beacon works with bluetooth LE... NFC seems like a step back from that.

NFC is rather different from bluetooth and hence not really comparable for many use cases. Primarily, NFC is much lower power consumption than bluetooth, much smaller field, and much lower data/bandwidth. NFC is more in the category of RFID. Secondly, NFC tags are unpowered and rely on the reader for energy. They store several dozen bytes up to several thousand bytes and are useful for QR-style applications, like "Ta…

Bluetooth Low Energy, which the parent commenter was referring to, uses a minuscule amount of power compared to the old standard. BLE devices can run for months on a coin cell, it has negligible impact on the battery life of a smartphone.

Using NFC, the act of reading uses very little power, and of course tags are unpowered, but the reader needs to constantly scan for nearby tags, and that can be a battery hog. There are reports of 50% shorter battery life on NFC-equipped android phones.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#639

Post by oakwhiz »

jasomill wrote: post #570
baddox wrote: post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you believe that the radios are actually off when in airplane mode?

Generally speaking, because some regulatory agency or other would refuse or revoke certification of a device that has a "disable radio" feature that doesn't work. I wouldn't assume that a device is incapable of accumulating GPS tracking information in "airplane mode" and forwarding it when the radio is turned back on, however, or that intelligence and law enforcement agencies would never quietly disable "airplane mod…

Airplane mode more or less disables the phone's transmitters, but not necessarily the receivers. Even if the baseband processor is told to shut down the radio, it can still be listening for a remote backdoor message, and subsequently enable the transmitter for some nefarious purpose - similar to a remote shell.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#640

Post by InclinedPlane »

dev_jim wrote: post #166
pilif wrote: post #73

Now that we have to consider the iPhones to be backdoored by the NSA, I wonder whether I really want to give them my fingerprint together with the rest of my data. I'm also not so sure whether a fingerprint can't still be easily faked (like it was possible on that Mythbusters episode for example). Personally, I think I'd rather stay with my passcode. Did you btw know that you can turn off "simple passcode" and then u…

Urgh. When do we get to the point where I can read HN without a snarky NSA comment being voted to the top?

Probably a little while after the "Days since the last major NSA revelation about how deeply they are tracking everything we do and say even in 'private': __" sign has had a chance to increment to a significant time period. Right now it's more than a little distressing to have not seen the sign above single digits for what seems like a very long time.
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