12 Facts About Face ID

Face ID is a facial recognition system designed and developed by Apple Inc for the iPhone and iPad Pro.

Face ID has sparked a number of debates about security and privacy.

Apple claims that Face ID is statistically more advanced than Touch ID fingerprint scanning.

Face ID's technology is based on PrimeSense's previous work with low-cost infrared depth perception that was the basis of the Kinect motion sensor for the Xbox console line from Microsoft; Apple had acquired PrimeSense in 2013 after Microsoft started to wane on the use of Kinect.

Face ID is based on a facial recognition sensor that consists of two parts: a dot projector module that projects more than 30, 000 infrared dots onto the user's face, and an infrared camera module that reads the pattern.

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Face ID is temporarily disabled and the user's passcode is required after 5 unsuccessful scans, 48 hours of inactivity, restarting the device, or if two of the device's both side buttons are held briefly.

Apple claimed the probability of someone else unlocking a phone with Face ID is 1 in 1, 000, 000 as opposed to Touch ID at 1 in 50, 000.

Authentication with Face ID is used to enable a number of iOS features, including unlocking the phone automatically on wake, making payments with Apple Pay, and viewing saved passwords.

Additionally, Face ID can be used without authentication to track over 50 aspects of a user's facial expression and positioning, which can be used to create live effects such as Animoji or camera filters.

Face ID uses an infrared flood illuminator and dot projector, though Apple insists that the output is low enough that it will cause no harm to the eyes or skin, and meets 'international safety standards'.

Face ID has raised concerns regarding the possibility of law enforcement accessing an individual's phone by pointing the device at the user's face.

In November 2017, Vietnamese security firm Bkav announced in a blog post that it had created a $150 mask that successfully unlocked Face ID, but WIRED noted that Bkav's technique was more of a "proof-of-concept" rather than active exploitation risk, with the technique requiring a detailed measurement or digital scan of the iPhone owner's face, putting the real risk of danger only to targets of espionage and world leaders.