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mahina

(20,337 posts)
Sat Nov 22, 2025, 10:44 PM Nov 22

Hawk, a liberal youtuber, said we should delete all biometric login info, face and fingerprint logins,

Last edited Mon Nov 24, 2025, 01:05 AM - Edit history (1)

In favor of passcodes.
He didn’t say why. I’m guessing it’s because of AI and all the exposed info out there.

I wondered what you folks think? What is safer? Thank you.

9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Hawk, a liberal youtuber, said we should delete all biometric login info, face and fingerprint logins, (Original Post) mahina Nov 22 OP
I'll get worried when I hear about this actually affecting people. Nt Fiendish Thingy Nov 22 #1
Fido 2 security keys are what is the most secure Nigrum Cattus Nov 22 #2
makes sense DBoon Nov 22 #3
Silly Putty can also be used to steal fingerprints. lastlib Nov 24 #9
I only use passcodes. PoindexterOglethorpe Nov 22 #4
Apple device was nagging me, and it looked "transparent". I might give it a try. usonian Nov 22 #5
Thank you! mahina Nov 22 #6
Use biometrics and kiss your 5th Amendment rights goodbye. BadgerKid Nov 23 #7
Gah. I'm considering going full Luddite. I'm halfway there already. hunter Nov 24 #8

DBoon

(24,661 posts)
3. makes sense
Sat Nov 22, 2025, 11:15 PM
Nov 22

Biometrics can be easily stolen - your fingerprint can be lifted off a coffee mug, there may be many photos of someone on social media, etc. Gummy bears have been successfully used to lift and reuse fingerprints - https://cryptome.org/gummy.htm

Also you can change a passcode as many times as you want, while with finger prints you only have ten fingers.

lastlib

(27,419 posts)
9. Silly Putty can also be used to steal fingerprints.
Mon Nov 24, 2025, 07:49 AM
Nov 24

Biometrics have to be stored on sonmebody's server--could be stolen from there. This guy isn't using any of that.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(28,407 posts)
4. I only use passcodes.
Sat Nov 22, 2025, 11:36 PM
Nov 22

Biometric strikes me, at least at this point in our technology, not such a good thing.

usonian

(23,289 posts)
5. Apple device was nagging me, and it looked "transparent". I might give it a try.
Sat Nov 22, 2025, 11:49 PM
Nov 22

For my learning, and maybe even yours:

A Beginner’s Guide to Passkeys: How to Set Them Up, Use Them, and Sync Across Devices
https://computertechsreno.com/a-beginners-guide-to-passkeys-how-to-set-them-up-use-them-and-sync-across-devices/

How Passkeys Work—and How to Use Them
https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-a-passkey-and-how-to-use-them/

How to Create a Passkey? Full Guide
https://www.passkeys.com/how-to-create-a-passkey

This sounds remarkably like Apple Pay, but I would just like things to work.
Apple Pay too often asks me to type in the phone passcode while shopping, which is shoulder-surfer heaven. ARRRGGHH.

And I wonder if they will with Firefox. I generally use Firefox instead of Safari
(because Firefox gets regularly updated, while Safari is tied more to the OS, and updating the OS can cause major "feature shock" )

Time to find out?

hunter

(40,326 posts)
8. Gah. I'm considering going full Luddite. I'm halfway there already.
Mon Nov 24, 2025, 12:17 AM
Nov 24

My flip phone is boring. It's attached to nothing but the phone number. No email, no money apps, nothing. I can talk to people, I can send and receive basic texts, I can attach photos I take with it's very basic camera to my texts, and it tells me the time. Mostly I use it as a phone.

I have a computer for my email. I use that to pay our monthly bills. Most of those are set up with auto-pay. I read my email about once a fortnight whether I need to or not. I also buy ebooks with that computer but I don't read them on it.

I have another computer that's not associated with an email account or anything else. That's the one I use for general purpose stuff like scanning and editing photographs, writing, etc.. It's got files dating back to the late 'seventies and it emulates all the computers I've used since then. In one or two clicks I can revisit all my BSD stuff, my Atari 8 bit stuff, my MSDOS stuff, etc.

I buy groceries with my ATM card. Sometimes I get cash back. I can go to an ATM machine and get cash. If I'm rummaging around in a thrift store and find a DVD or shirt I like, I pay cash. When I have more sophisticated financial stuff to deal with I go to our credit union.

Reminder to self: Keep it simple, stupid. I'm still that autistic spectrum kid who hates complications. A smart phone would complicate my life.

I still remember the first time I was forced to take a time-out from school. I had a university P.O. box, $600 in my pocket, and the entire world at my doorstep. That's the most freedom I've ever felt.

All this 21st century technology binds me to a world I find somewhat dystopian.

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