Apple takes out biometric security patents for iPhone
Fingerprint readers and retinal scanners were the height of sci-fi ambition only ten years ago, but can be picked up remarkably cheaply these days for our home devices such as USB drives and laptops.
Taking the concept one stage further, Apple has filed for biometric reader patents for the iPhone. These patents extend as far as using the users ear canal, odour and even DNA as security detection systems.
As with many patents, its at once encompassing of all things biometric yet still rather vague. The filing is for Embedded Authentication Systems, which doesnt give too much away, though it does suggest the kind of security that simply knows when the authorised user has the device, rather than specific checks to be performed manually.
The ear canal check, for example, would presumably be directly integrated with answering a phone call. Facial recognition, eyeball twitches, a variety of subcutaneous identification procedures and even kneecap scanners have all been researched as accurate methods of authentication, so itll be interesting to see which systems might be put to use in future iPhones.