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from the they-will-never-guess-my-age-because-I-leave-my-phone-unlocked! dept.
How you lock your smartphone can reveal your age: UBC study:
Older smartphone users tend to rely more on their phones' auto lock feature compared to younger users, a new UBC study has found. They also prefer using PINs over fingerprints to unlock their phones.
Researchers also found that older users are more likely to unlock their phones when they're stationary, such as when working at a desk or sitting at home.
The study is the first to explore the link between age and smartphone use, says Konstantin Beznosov, an electrical and computer engineering professor at UBC who supervised the research.
"As researchers working to protect smartphones from unauthorized access, we need to first understand how users use their devices," said Beznosov. "By tracking actual users during their daily interactions with their device, we now have real-world insights that can be used to inform future smartphone designs."
The full study is available through the ACM Digital Library.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by AthanasiusKircher on Thursday June 20 2019, @04:28PM (6 children)
Yeah, probably because old people tend to use devices where they are sitting down for a longer session, not checking their Instagram every 45 seconds like a drug addict. If younger users depended on "auto lock," they'd probably run their battery down four times as fast by keeping the screen on almost constantly.
Yep, probably because older people realize there are so many reasons not to use fingerprint readers from a security standpoint, in addition to their unreliability. In other news, older people prefer actual menus with text that explains options rather than having to waste five minutes to "discover" a feature through some odd non-transparent combination of swiping multiple fingers and double-tapping. They want things that are clear and work.
Well, just proved my point #1 above. Although this is worded in a kind of silly manner. Does this mean young people get up and start jumping around every time they unlock their phone? Maybe it's because they're annoyed and jumping around because the fingerprint reader failed yet again....
Oh, I call BS on that nonsense. Seriously?!? This guy is going to claim that no one has ever before done any study looking at the differences in how younger people vs. older people use smart phones?? What rock has he been living under?
I'll stop reading after that.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Thursday June 20 2019, @05:13PM (1 child)
Perhaps the greatest security issue with fingerprints is that they are protected only by the 4th Amendment and can be had with a court order, which judges give out like pedophiles give out candy to kids.
In contrast, what you know is protected by the 5th Amendment and you cannot be forced to reveal that ( short of extra-judicial proceedings involving rubber hoses, thumbscrews, and so forth).
(Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Friday June 21 2019, @03:17PM
I concur; if you value your privacy and the related security often tied to privacy, then never protect with biometrics what you want to keep private. Maybe use biometrics in a form of multi-factor authentication that provides something you have (a biometric value) with something you know (that 5th amendment protected password).
But always use a password; if someone complains about that and claims that remembering things is hard, then maybe not trust them with anything important. You have to take actions to protect yourself from the behaviors of others, too, and not just your own behaviors. Assuming anything only makes an ass our of yourself in those situations; the other person might actually gain something from it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 20 2019, @06:58PM
Does this mean young people get up and start jumping around every time they unlock their phone? Maybe it's because they're annoyed and jumping around because the fingerprint reader failed yet again....
^^^^^^ This, a thousand times this (or they are using the phone to watch Michael jackson vids).
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 20 2019, @07:54PM (2 children)
I use fingerprint, not for security, but for convenience.
It is convenient because it rarely fails. My current and previous Google phone has extremely reliable fingerprint censor. And on the back of the phone. After withdrawing the device from my pocket, I can touch the back fingerprint sensor while moving the phone to where I can use it. It's the quickest, easiest and most reliable way. Much more convenient than either a PIN or Pattern. But I also do use a pattern and not a PIN.
I don't have any illusions about it being secure.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday June 21 2019, @02:05AM (1 child)
If you don't have illusions about it being secure, why use it at all?
I'm guessing because it provides a minor impediment as a security feature, so it does provide some security, kinda like using a weak password rather than no password at all. Which is of course a preference. It's your device, so leave it secure or not as you wish. (For years, I didn't have any lock on my phone, since I almost always used it as a phone. It had no access to anything other than phone numbers of contacts... No apps with saved passwords, no banking, no nothing. Everything that could possibly be saving or tracking stuff like that was turned off... And I still do that for most apps on my phone. So I understand not needing major security on a device if you're not using it for anything that demands it.)
What I wonder about is the term "reliability." What does it mean that your fingerprint reader is "reliable" here? Does it mean that it just reliably unlocks your phone? Given that I've read about "master fingerprints" that apparently can unlock some phones something like 20% of the time anyway, I wonder if this reader is just even more open to random matching... Which means "reliability" in this instance may just be even lesser security.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday June 21 2019, @03:27PM
As you say, it is a minor security feature. But not real security.
The reason: because I want the phone to actually lock in a way that it won't be getting button presses and taking actions when it is in my pocket.
I want to either have to fingerprint it, or swipe an unlock pattern.
Convenience, not security is the reason I don't use a PIN.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.