The recent federal raid on the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson isn’t merely an attack by the Trump administration on the free press. It’s also a warning to anyone with a smartphone.

Included in the search and seizure warrant for the raid on Natanson’s home is a section titled “Biometric Unlock,” which explicitly authorized law enforcement personnel to obtain Natanson’s phone and both hold the device in front of her face and to forcibly use her fingers to unlock it. In other words, a judge gave the FBI permission to attempt to bypass biometrics: the convenient shortcuts that let you unlock your phone by scanning your fingerprint or face.

    • Fedizen@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      5 hours ago

      I’ve got a pixel and it will not allow biometrics on a hard power off or restart, only for login from a previous session. if I was a journalist I’d be resetting my phone constantly if I had sources to protect.

      It also hard locks if its been 24 hours since a password was typed. You can also intentionally cut your finger or fuckup your face guarantee biometric lockout. If you think you’re about to be arrested and you have fingerprint unlock you can just slice or burn your finger.