Flaws in Smartphone Face-recognition Software [Tech News]

From British consumer magazine WHICH

The problem with face-recognition: apparently, with some smartphones, holding an ordinary photograph up to the phone can unlock it, if I understand correctly. I suppose this means that the person stealing your mobile phone from you knows you, as they would need to have the photo in the first place. 

I have avoided activating the face-recognition functionality on my smartphone (which is a basic Samsung) because I was wondering what you do if it doesn't work: the software has not been updated, or the place where you are is too dark and the phone cannot 'see' you, and so on. 

The Extract below. The article may be behind a pay wall. 

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In 2023, we revealed that over 40% of phones we tested had face recognition security that could be easily fooled and successfully unlocked by a 2D printed photograph. These included popular handsets from Samsung, Motorola, Xiaomi and others. Unfortunately the issue isn't going away and we were surprised that the same issue affects two phones in the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, and all phones in the S25 series. 

Fortunately, Samsung offers a clear warning during the face recognition set up that tells users the system can be fooled with a photograph. But to avoid this vulnerability, we recommend you don't enable the feature and use the fingerprint sensor or a password/PIN instead. Long PINS are generally more secure (six characters), and if you can set up a password, use a mixture of different characters so it's harder to guess. We recommend setting up protections on your apps that contain sensitive information too – this could involve logging out when you're not using them, or setting up passwords or fingerprint locks.

We approached Samsung for comment on our findings about face recognition on the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ in 2024. It said: 'We provide various levels of biometric authentication, with the highest level of authentication from the fingerprint reader. In addition, we provide users with multiple options to unlock their smartphones through both biometric security methods, and convenient options such as swipe or facial recognition. Further information about facial recognition can be found via the settings on Samsung Galaxy smartphones.'

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/great-alternatives-to-the-samsung-galaxy-s25-that-can-save-you-money-alJca9h6J0C1?utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=4564291-C_WS_EM_PROD_C__20250228&mi_u=220092277&mi_ecmp=C_WS_EM_PROD_C__20250228