How do they do this?

[Clitheroekid]

I was under the impression that iPhones were very secure, and I recall there was litigation in the US about prosecutors trying to force Apple to give them access to iPhones, which was presumably because they couldn't access them without Apple's co-operation.

However, having seen this it seems that, at least in Scotland, the plod can very easily see anything on any phone - https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/01 ... ed-iphones

Is this really the case? Is face recognition so easily overridden?

[onthemove]

I was under the impression that iPhones were very secure, and I recall there was litigation in the US about prosecutors trying to force Apple to give them access to iPhones, which was presumably because they couldn't access them without Apple's co-operation.

However, having seen this it seems that, at least in Scotland, the plod can very easily see anything on any phone - https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/01 ... ed-iphones

Is this really the case? Is face recognition so easily overridden?

Other than the headline, there's nothing really that suggests it's getting data from locked phones, so I suspect the headline is incorrect.

In the UK law enforcement can force people to give up their encryption keys - so I would imagine that the kiosks are for use with the vast majority of people who will give police access (under the threat of jail time if they don't)...

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/1 ... i_figures/

The power to force people to unscramble their data was granted to authorities in October 2007. Between 1 April, 2008 and 31 March this year the first two convictions were obtained.

I just watched the video in the page and it mentions nothing about bypassing encryption or other security on the device. It's just describing it as a tool for quick and standardised data searching.

[GeoffF100]

I was under the impression that iPhones were very secure, and I recall there was litigation in the US about prosecutors trying to force Apple to give them access to iPhones, which was presumably because they couldn't access them without Apple's co-operation.

They did. They eventually paid someone (not Apple) to break into the phone for them. The crooks can break into your iPhone, but the police cannot unless they pay someone lots of our money to do it. Perhaps it would be better if Apple had to do it for nothing.

[AF62]

They did. They eventually paid someone (not Apple) to break into the phone for them. The crooks can break into your iPhone, but the police cannot unless they pay someone lots of our money to do it. Perhaps it would be better if Apple had to do it for nothing.

The attack developed to bypass Apple's security has now been rectified by them so no longer works (at least for the police, I am sure the security services have a route if you have been very bad).

As for face/fingerprint unlocking, a useful thing with Apple phones if you are concerned that someone will use your biometric features to unlock without your permission* or knowledge* is pressing the power button swiftly five times forces it to use numerical code unlock in the next unlock.

*Apparently in America the police cannot require you to provide a passcode but can require you to unlock with a biometric feature.

*Apparently not unknown for suspicious wives/husbands to unlock their partners phone using their finger/face whilst asleep.