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# Tech Time: Is Face Scanning the Future of Security?

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kCXAmgKD.m3u8" -->
## Video: Tech Time: Is Face Scanning the Future of Security?

[Watch (HLS stream): Tech Time: Is Face Scanning the Future of Security?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kCXAmgKD.m3u8) (1:53)

![Tech Time: Is Face Scanning the Future of Security?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kCXAmgKD/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2015-08-24. Using Biometrics, some companies are making it so that you never have to remember a password again. But is it really the most secure method? TIME Tech Editor Alex Fitzpatrick weighs in._


---

Jul 27, 2023 6:42 PM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

[Tech Time: The Future of TV](/video/s0cKIzc8/)

### Tech Time: The Future of TV

[Tech Time: The Future of Transportation](/video/4uWgeBi7/)

### Tech Time: The Future of Transportation

[The Biometric Tech That Could Kill The Password](/video/6qWzRYmp/)

### The Biometric Tech That Could Kill The Password

---


## Transcript

[ SOUND ] Look, nobody likes passwords. They're hard to remember, you forget them all the time. You have to ask companies to send you new ones, it's a total pain. But what if your face, your fingerprints, or even your eyes could replace passwords entirely. Using something called biometrics, a lot of companies are already doing Companies can identify you by your face, your fingerprint, your eyes, basically anything that you have that other people don't, it's unique to you. And that can let you get into your bank account, your computer, your phone, all without remembering a password at all. Lots of popular companies are trying biometrics.

Apple and Samsung phones have fingerprint scanners that let you access your phone. Some Windows 10 computers can recognize your face so you don't have to enter in a password at all. And even some banks are experimenting with ATMs that scan your eye and lets you get into your bank account. Isn't that all better than remembering cupcake start 82? But are biometrics really safer then passwords? Researchers recently found that an older HTC phone was storing fingerprint scans without any real protection at all, meaning any app on that phone could access your fingerprint scan and do whatever with it That's not good.

You can't change your fingerprint like you can change a password. If somebody happens to learn my Twitter password, I can go and change it really quickly. But I can't just burn off my thumbprint and get a new one. That would really hurt and I don't wanna do that. Ultimately maybe biometrics shouldn't replace passwords entirely. Maybe the two should work in tandem and you'll still have to remember a password, but your eyeball scan or your fingerprint can be an extra layer of security on top of that. So will biometrics create a whole new way of stealing your identity? It sounds really suspicious.

If I can log into my computer with my face, what's stopping someone from holding up a picture of my face and getting into my computer? Well, it turns out biometric software is pretty good at Preventing that kind of trickery, and that means it's probably where were headed for the future of security. [ MUSIC ] Cool. Great.

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