【Watch Leverage Online】

The Watch Leverage OnlineiPhone X is finally here, and with it comes a host of new features that Apple promises herald the arrival of "the future."

But could that future be rife with privacy violations and potential for abuse? It's a question that Sen. Al Franken intends to get to the bottom of, and on Wednesday, he fired off a letter to the tech giant to get the investigative ball rolling.

At issue is Face ID, a replacement for Touch ID that scans a smartphone owner's face in order to unlock the device or authenticate Apple Pay. Experts have expressed concerns that the technology could be a step backward for device security, as well as a potential move toward a privately owned database of facial biometric data.

SEE ALSO: Why the iPhone X's facial recognition could be a privacy disaster

In the letter, addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Franken gets right to the heart of the matter. While acknowledging the security steps the company says it has taken to secure locally stored data, he asks what we're all thinking: What about the future?

"Apple has stated that all faceprint data will be stored locally on an individual's device as opposed to being sent to the cloud," writes Franken. "Is it currently possible — either remotely or through physical access to the device — for either Apple or a third party to extract and obtain usable faceprint data from the iPhone X?"

But that's not all. The Democratic senator from Minnesota addresses the worry that Face ID might discriminate against people of color.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

"[It] has previously been reported that many facial recognition systems have a higher rate of error when tested for accuracy in identifying people of color, which may be explained by variety of factors, including a lack of diversity in the faces that were used to train a system," he continues. "What steps did Apple take to ensure its system was trained on a diverse set of faces, in terms of race, gender, and age," he later asks.

And Franken doesn't stop there. "Apple has stated that it used more than one billion images in developing the Face ID algorithm. Where did these one billion face images come from?"

Which, yeah — that's a pretty good question.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Franken also wants to know if the company can "assure its users that it will never share faceprint data, along with the tools or other information necessary to extract the data, with any commercial third party."

And that pesky bit about Face ID actually securing your device against low-tech hacks? "Please describe again all the steps that Apple has taken to ensure that Face ID can distinguish an individual's face from a photograph or mask, for example," requests the senator.

He's asked that Apple respond by Oct. 13. Importantly, pre-sales for the iPhone X are slated to begin Oct. 27.

Hopefully the company takes Franken's request seriously. A detailed examination of just what Face ID means for the average consumer's privacy — not just convenience when unlocking the phone — was overdue the minute the feature was unveiled. Franken's letter gives Apple the opportunity to remedy that lapse.

In the meantime, maybe consider sticking with an alphanumeric password.

---

Featured Video For You

---

How the iPhone has evolved over the last decade

---

Topics Apple Cybersecurity Facial Recognition iPhone

• Deals
• Games
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Science
• Digital Culture
• Life
• Social Good

• Insane wildfire photo perfectly sums up America in 2017
• Charlottesville really happened. Don't look away.
• Wikipedia prepares for election day misinformation
• Even North Korea thinks Trump is 'bereft of reason'
• Norrie vs. Diallo 2025 livestream: Watch Madrid Open for free
• iFixit teardown confirms the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are mostly identical
• Bruno Mars donates $1 million to Flint water crisis
• 'There's a place at Google for you,' Google CEO tells girls at coding competition
• Waitin’ on the Student Debt Jubilee
• Trump just weighed in on the riots, and here’s what he—and everyone else—had to say

• Hulu's cable killer is taking shape — and now includes NBC
• 9 douchiest facts about the bro behind Fyre Festival who's not Ja Rule
• Movie poster sparks controversy by comparing military service with childbirth pain
• The world's fastest camera can capture 5 trillion frames per second
• Someone threw a Pepsi can at police IRL during a protest
• Tim Cook will take his Apple Watch secret to the grave
• IKEA sent out an AI survey and what in the name of eftersökt are they planning?!
• Incredibly bright star hogs all the attention in beautiful new galaxy photo
• Taco Bell will soon sell you chicken nuggets with cheese sauce
• When it comes to finding dates, these jobs always win

• NYT Strands hints, answers for May 5
• 5 ways to charge your new iPhone 12
• Deadpool’s woman problem has been haunting me for years
• Patreon bans QAnon conspiracy theorists from its platform
• Scientists find supercolony of penguins on the remote Danger Islands
• Instagram will let you livestream for up to 4 hours and archive for a month
• NASA's new discovery of water on the moon could aid future missions
• SpaceX releases Starlink app, prices for satellite internet service
• Eufy L60 robot vacuum: Get it for $279.95 at Amazon
• 5 tweets that highlight actions you can take on Latina Equal Pay Day

• Keeping Hope Alive
• Join with a Costco Gold Star Membership and get up to $45 off
• Pornhub reveals that yes, of course, tons of people are looking for boobs. Duh.
• Wikipedia prepares for election day misinformation
• NYT Connections hints and answers for May 18: Tips to solve 'Connections' #707.
• Scientists destroy the first 'murder hornet' nest found in Washington
• Minecraft and Rock the Vote team up to show young users what it's like to vote
• How tech can help you thrive amid the pandemic winter blues
• Bayern Munich vs. Leverkusen 2025 livestream: Watch Champions League for free
• There's another Pizza Squirrel giving Pizza Rat a run for his money