How Secure Is The Face ID In iPhone X

The pre-orders have begun for the Apple’s new sensational mobile device called iPhone X. The latter becomes first Apple iDevice to use the concept of Face ID for unlocking the device. Owing to the absence of home button in this entirely new iPhone, the Touch ID has been replaced with the state-of-the-art Face ID. Although Apple claims its Face ID to be 10 times more secure and advanced than the conventional Touch ID, we’ll soon enough find out if it’s really worth the saying.

One thing we can say for sure that the Face ID in iPhone X is definitely far more superior than that of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus which could be unlocked just by showing a picture of the subject to phone camera. One thing that makes the iPhone X Face ID out of the ordinary is the use of neural engine introduced in the A11 Bionic chip which examines every minute detail of a person’s face. Let’s see how the Face ID contrasts with Touch ID in terms of user privacy and security.

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Face ID vs Touch ID

Touch ID is a highly successful unlock method that has been protecting a fleet of Apple iDevices for quite some time now. Even the new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are protected by this cutting-edge technology. But what Apple’s take on that is, “if Touch ID is smart, Face ID is smarter.” Comparing it with the Touch ID, Apple states that the probability of a random person to unlock the device using Touch ID is one in 50,000 while in case of the all new Face ID, it is one in a million.

But as it turns out, it would be too early to say anything until we have the X devices on shelves. Not to forget, the Face ID failed twice during the very first attempts to unlock the device at the Keynote Event which definitely not a good sign.

How Face ID Works?

The Face ID in iPhone X is backed by the TrueDepth camera with a dot projector that projects and reads over 30,000 invisible dots on your face to create a depth map of the face along with a 2D infrared image. The details captured by the camera are further processed and are used to create a sequence of 2D images and depth maps. This data is then passed on to the Secure Enclave of the A11 Bionic chip’s neural engine which in turn converts this data into mathematical expressions. The results are compared with the enrolled facial data that is saved in form of a mathematical representation inside the neural engine of the A11 bionic chip. If the data matches, the phone grants permission to the user to access its contents. Otherwise, it asks for the pass key to unlock the device.

Also, the facial data saved in the Secure Enclave of the A11 bionic chip never leaves the device. It isn’t sent to the Apple servers unless you are willing to do that by yourself.