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posted by martyb on Thursday June 20 2019, @04:11PM   Printer-friendly
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.


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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 20 2019, @07:49PM (4 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 20 2019, @07:49PM (#858170) Journal

    I am an older user. I don't use a PIN. I use both fingerprint and a pattern. (yes really)

    The problem with a PIN is that it leaves finger smudge marks over the digits. The institution orderly's can tell which digits you use to lock, but not which order. Using a fingerprint makes it easy for them to unlock the phone while the owner is sedated. With a pattern instead of a PIN, the finger smudge leaves a nice clear trail on the screen which only has two possible directions of travel.

    The real reason I use fingerprint and a pattern is simply convenience over security. If someone gets physical possession of my phone and really wants into it, they will get in to it. Unless I take extraordinary measures. I've never lost or broken a phone since my first one in the 90's. (that's NINETEEN nineties to avoid confusion) I simply want the phone lock to prevent the phone from dialing or taking other actions while it is in my pocket.

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  • (Score: 1) by Mer on Thursday June 20 2019, @10:05PM

    by Mer (8009) on Thursday June 20 2019, @10:05PM (#858249)

    There'll be smudges elsewhere on you phone unless you just unlock it then put it back in your pocket. And it's not only the order that you have to figure out but also if digits were reused.
    The real reason to not use fingerprint auth is that then you fingerprint is on file in a smartphone. Either that file is unencrypted by negligence like the localisation logs in old iphones or it's encrypted but it's a high profile target for hackers.
    Personally, I like a 20 digit pin with auto screen lock disabled.

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    Shut up!, he explained.
  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday June 21 2019, @12:17AM (1 child)

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Friday June 21 2019, @12:17AM (#858323) Journal

    that's NINETEEN nineties to avoid confusion

    No potential for confusion. In the eighteen nineties smartphones didn't yet exist. :-)

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 21 2019, @10:22AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 21 2019, @10:22AM (#858490)

      You are insufficiently confusable. OP could be 104 years old and talking about his 90's.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 21 2019, @02:52PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 21 2019, @02:52PM (#858559)

    I play games on my phone. What smudges? :)