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Is it?

Btw. with new iPhone they just need to hold it close to his face while handcuffed.



Does pressing the power button five times still disable biometrics?

Edit from sibling comment link with alternate easier method to hard lock: “Just press and hold the buttons on both sides. Remember that. Try it now. Don’t just memorize it, internalize it, so that you’ll be able to do it without much thought while under duress, like if you’re confronted by a police officer. Remember to do this every time you’re separated from your phone, like when going through the magnetometer at any security checkpoint, especially airports. As soon as you see a metal detector ahead of you, you should think, “Hard-lock my iPhone”.”


Yep, just tested here, 5 clicks and you get the emergency/poweroff screen which then will require passcode afterwards, even if you don't power off.


For those with Android phones, do not try this, as it triggers emergency SOS. (I just made this mistake lol).


I had to turn off all that emergency SOS stuff because my toddlers kept wanting to "talk to the nice lady" ... at 911.


> Just press and hold the buttons on both sides.

This doesn't seem to work on my iphone 7 with ios 15.7.1. If the screen is off, nothing happens. Or if I happen to push the power button slightly before or after the volume key, the screen will turn on and touch id works as usual. If the screen is on, but the phone is locked, nothing happens either. The screen will just turn off at some point. The phone can still be unlocked normally.

What does work is pushing only the power button when the screen is on for a few seconds. This is a dual press (1. turn on screen; 2. start shut down procedure). Or pressing the power button five times, whatever the screen state. But that also activates the emergency call countdown.


yes


It’s worth mentioning here that as long as long as you have a few seconds notice you can force your Face ID enabled iPhone to require a passcode the next time it’s unlocked.

Just press and hold the power button and either volume button for a few seconds. See https://daringfireball.net/2022/06/require_a_passcode_to_unl... for a lengthier exposition


With the eyes open

Pentuple clicking of the side button disables biometric ID. Going to the power menu by holding volume and side button does the same.


> With the eyes open

I don't have an iPhone with FaceID to test this, but supposedly you need to be looking at the phone as well, so it should be fairly easy to avoid unlocking the phone under duress (consequences notwithstanding).


Or—and hear me out, I realize this sounds crazy—one could just not enable biometrics.


But they are so convenient! And phone makers keep telling us they are so secure!

Disclaimer: I don't use biometrics anywhere


Is that the only and mandatory way to unlock an iPhone? No passcode?

I'm defending against thieves so I'm using fingerprints on my Android (and passcode) but if I was defending against the law I'd go passcode only.


Not even. If you live in a large enough district, they just plug it into their Greykey and dump a disk image of whatever is on your iPhone's flash.


(not a lawyer or french) but generally yes - it's your responsibility to give the password to the police, forgetting it would be equivalent to forgetting to pay at a store or forgetting to put on a seatbelt while driving - it may be accidental but still illegal. I don't know of any laws where you can legitimately claim ignorance


That is a looong shot! The responsibility for my passwords is mine and sole mine! Other thing is being negligent with password security, and a breach leading to damage of property of life... but forgetting a password is not a crime! never.


Is this your belief of the law as it stands or how you feel the law should be?

"forgetting a password is not a crime" is a statement of fact, and the only thing required to make it a crime is a law saying it is a crime. "Crime" is not some universal absolute, what is and is not can obviously change drastically over time.


Yeah I'm not saying this is what I think it correct - it's just how the law seems like it works. Ultimately you'd have to convince a jury and I don't think most people would believe "I just happened to forget it when the police asked for it". In the US you aren't required to give the police your passcode, but they do have a legal right to use your face/fingerprints without your permission, so they can freely search if there's only a biometric lock but not a passcode. Very weird but that's how the laws were written


"Btw. with new iPhone they just need to hold it close to his face while handcuffed."

Honest question. Do people on HN actually travel with this enabled on their iphone? Like, the ability to just hold you to a wall with your phone and open it?


If the matters can go to that violence, you have bigger problems that somebody playing candy crash with your phone...


It can always go to that, due to nothing you’ve done.

Mistaken identity, planted evidence (from someone else, like drugs put in your bag by a handler for picking up by a compatriot in the destination, but caught before then, or by bored police!), political targeting (like you’re the ‘wrong’ nationality, and the country you’re traveling to wants some leverage), etc.

Muggers or bandits also don’t exactly ask if today is a good day either.


If the worst violence to fear in police custody is being held straight so that your phone can be pointed at your face I'd say you're quite safe...


I mean you have got a point. Forces serving governments are known to kill innocents in cold blood, and commit plenty of genocides, so yeah…


> Do people on HN actually travel with this enabled on their iphone?

I have nothing to hide, but I travel with a secondary phone that I wipe before crossing international borders, to which I’ll happily give law enforcement access.




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