You pick up your phone and stare at it. The screen unlocks at once. But it won't do that for anyone else. The phone knows who you are. It recognizes (识别) the shape of your face. Welcome to the world of the latest iphone. It comes with a feature called Face ID.
Your face isn't the only characteristic you can use as a password. Many smartphones already accept fingerprint recognition. Other safety systems check the shape of the ear, patterns in the eye, or the way a person walks. All of these characteristics, called biometrics (生物识别技术), are unusual enough to identify someone.
People like using biometrics for safety because they're easy. You can't misplace or forget your own face. They're also usually very safe. It's hard to copy another person's body parts. But it's not impossible!
And the face may be one of the easiest body parts to copy. Most teens post plenty of photos online. These could probably help someone hack into (入侵) a safety system. In 2016, researchers at the University of North Carolina collected available Facebook photos. They used them to build 3D models of faces. Then they showed these fake faces to five different facial recognition systems. Four out of five let the cheater (骗子) in. (Face ID wasn't part of the test.)
Once a biometric password has been stolen, you can't easily change it. You can't get a new face! There's one more thing of Face ID that worries experts. It would be easy for someone else to hold your phone in front of your face to unlock it. For example, an angry sister or brother might do this to hack into your accounts.
Some people won't worry about all that. It's just so cool to use Face ID. As for me, l am always glad to use the new technology as long as it can make our lives easier and better. What do you think? Is it a good thing to you?
