Why You Should Stop Using Face ID
6/7/202644 min
Do you think your thoughts belong to you? How would feel if you found out they don't? In this episode Hannah and Michael discuss a tangible future where the last bastion of privacy is breached and the thoughts that run through out heads no longer belong to us. Why is it that in 2026 police can open your phone using face ID any time they want, but they can't do the same with your password? When might a single brain wave called P300 eliminate the need for evidence in court? And how do we protect the contents of our minds now that we're imaging dreams, translating thoughts and installing brain chips? Find out on The Rest Is Science.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsHannah Fry· Host0:01
Welcome to The Rest is Science. I'm Hannah Fry.
Michael Stevens· Host0:02
And I'm Michael Stevens. Right now, I'm thinking an illegal thought.
Hannah Fry· Host0:07
Uh-oh.
Michael Stevens· Host0:08
Or am I?
Hannah Fry· Host0:10
I can't tell.
Michael Stevens· Host0:11
You can't tell. I could be committing all kinds of crimes up here right now.
Hannah Fry· Host0:15
But is it to think it to commit the crime?
Michael Stevens· Host0:17
That's what we're gonna talk about today.
Hannah Fry· Host0:18
Mm-hmm.
Michael Stevens· Host0:18
We're gonna talk about the power of thoughts, the responsibilities you have as a thinker, and whether you have any. Can you own a thought?
Hannah Fry· Host0:26
Can you be punished for it even?
Michael Stevens· Host0:29
Should you be?
Hannah Fry· Host0:30
Hmm.
Michael Stevens· Host0:31
I wanna talk about this today because I read a few weeks ago, like, a startling fact, which is that the police are allowed to collect evidence from you by unlocking your phone if it has face ID or fingerprint recognition encrypting it. But however, if you lock up your phone with a passcode, they can't get into it legally.
Hannah Fry· Host0:51
What? So wait, hang on. I need to understand this. So if it's... If you've got face ID on there, they can, like, hold the phone up and basically take the image of your face- Right ... as it were. That sort of belongs to them in, uh, you know, in, in some sense. They have an ability to take that from you. Likewise, your fingerprint, they can take your fingerprint from you, but they can't take the thing that's in your mind, which is the numbers.
Michael Stevens· Host1:11
Exactly. That's what I thought was so exciting- Hmm ... that we are treating legally what's in your mind with more priority and privilege than your body. So if the cops arrest you and they tell you, "Hey, you gotta tell me your passcode," you do. They get into your phone with that passcode,