Tim Cook has hit back at critics of Apple’s FaceID system who claim the technology is a violation of user’s privacy.
He told Good Morning America host Robin Roberts ‘We want to protect your data, because we know its yours, not ours.’
Cook denied that there was any risk of Face ID violating the user’s privacy, as all processing and image capture stays on the phone, and is never sent to Apple.
Cook told Good Morning America host Robin Roberts ‘We want to protect your data, because we know its yours, not ours.’
He first hit out at the firm’s rivals, saying the issue was ‘not a problem with us’.
‘Once you place your face in the phone, it’s in the phone – Apple doesn’t have it.
‘We’ve encrypted in on your device, you make the decisions about who has it, not us
We’re very protective of our customer’s data, we believe that privacy is very important in this world, there are hackers everywhere trying to steal your information.
‘It is yours, its not ours’.
Cook was also asked about the Steve Jobs Theater, and Cook’s emotional response to opening the venue to the public for the first time during the Sept. 12 unveiling event.
‘I walked in the theater that day and from the moment I walked in that day,… I could feel him there,’ said Cook.
‘His DNA is very much the DNA of Apple.’
He also hit back at claims the new iPhone X was too expensive at $999.
‘Well, it’s a value price actually for the technology that you’re getting, he said’
‘As it turns out, most people are paying for phones over long periods of time.
‘And so, very few people will pay the full price of the phone initially.
‘Also, most people actually trade in their current phone, and some carriers throw in subsidies and discounts.’
Cook was also asked about the Steve Jobs Theater, and Cook’s emotional response to opening the venue to the public for the first time during the Sept. 12 unveiling event
Earlier this week, Craig Federighi, Apple’s software engineering chief reassured users that they can easily disable the feature, should they be concerned about it.
Mr Federighi even went so far as to say that people will soon not be able to live without the feature.
It comes as Apple updates it App Store Review Guidelines to include a variety of changes, including apps being forced to offer an ‘alternate authentication method’ to FaceID for children under 13.
Mr Federighi made the comments while speaking on John Gruber’s Talk Show, assuring users that their worries about Face ID will soon ‘melt away.’
He said: ‘You don’t even think about it, it just works.’
He reminded viewers that similar concerns had been raised when Apple revealed Touch ID on the iPhone 5S in 2013.
He said: ‘Honestly, we’re just all counting the days that customers can finally get their hands on these.
‘Because I think just like with Touch ID, initially people thought oh, ‘Apple’s done something that’s totally not going to work and I’m not a believer and I’m not gonna use this feature.’
HOW APPLE’S FACEID WORKS
Face ID uses a TrueDepth front-facing camera on the iPhone X, which has multiple components.
A Dot Projector projects more than 30,000 invisible dots onto your face to map its structure.
The dot map is then read by an infrared camera and the structure of your face is relayed to the A11 Bionic chip in the iPhone X, where it is turned into a mathematical model.
When FaceID is used, a dot projector projects more than 30,000 invisible dots onto your face to map its structure
The A11 chip then compares your facial structure to the facial scan stored in the iPhone X during the setup process.
Face ID uses infrared to scan your face, so it works in low lighting conditions and in the dark.
It will only unlock your device when you look in the direction of the iPhone X with your eyes open.
Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, speaks about the Face ID feature to unlock the iPhone X during the company’s event at the new Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino
Apple says it trained Face ID with hyperrealistic masks created by Hollywood studios, ensuring a mask of a person wouldn’t be able to fool the Face ID system.
Face ID also adapts to changes in your appearance over time, so it will continue to recognize you as you grow a beard or grow your hair longer.
Cook also showed off the firm’s new augmented reality software.
‘We’re taking the complex and making it simple, this is what Apple is so fantastic at.’ Cook said in regards to ARKit and how it facilitates the adoption of the technology.
‘We’ve taken the complexity that developers would have to do in their apps and made it simple for them to convert all of their apps to an AR experience.’
‘In one day, we can make AR available for hundreds of millions of people,’ said Cook. ‘That will happen in a few hours from now.’
ARKit is included in iOS 11.
Apple’s ARKit combines the iPhone or iPad’s sensors, and overlays virtual objects on the device’s screen, in conjunction with the items in real space.
‘This is a day to remember,’ added Cook.
‘This is a profound day.’
To unlock the new phone, users can use facial recognition, which Apple calls Face ID. The Face ID will learn your face, so every time you glance at the iPhone, it detects your face – even in the dark
THE IPHONE X
– $999 (£999 in the UK) price for 64GB version, and $1,149 (£1,149 in the UK) for the 256GB version
– Pronounced the ‘iPhone 10’
– Comes with 64GB and 256GB models
– Pre-orders open October 27, ships November 3
– No home button – swipe up from the bottom to unlock or to go home from an app or to multitask
– ‘Face ID’ that allows users to unlock the phone by looking at it
– Qi and AirPower wireless charging that lets you charge multiple devices at once
Following months of anticipation, Apple has finally unveiled the rumored iPhone X. The $999 (£999) ‘anniversary’ device doesn’t have a home button and features a ‘notch’ at the top
– ‘Screen tap’ unlock
– Edge to edge display with glass on both sides of the device
– Super retina display using OLED technology – highest ever pixel density in an iPhone
– Dual 12 megapixel cameras and dual-optical image stabilisation
– Tuned for augmented reality capabilities
– Portrait lighting that uses machine learning to touch up photos
– A11 bionic chips with six cores, can be 70 per cent faster than the previous A10 chip
But Mr Federighi said that the feature could easily be disabled in such a scenario.
In an interview with TechCrunch, he said: ‘On older phones the sequence was to click 5 times [on the power button], but on newer phones like iPhone 8 and iPhone X, if you grip the side buttons on either side and hold them a little while — we’ll take you to the power down [screen].
‘But that also has the effect of disabling Face ID.
The new iPhone X (centre), is pictured next to the new iPhone 8 (right) and iPhone 8 Plus (left), which were all unveiled at Apple’s event last week
‘So, if you were in a case where the thief was asking to hand over your phone — you can just reach into your pocket, squeeze it, and it will disable Face ID. It will do the same thing on iPhone 8 to disable Touch ID.’
He also reassured that Apple will not gather data from Face ID.
In the interview he said: ‘We do not gather customer data when you enroll in Face ID, it stays on your device, we do not send it to the cloud for training data.’
During Apple’s big event last week, Craig Federighi took to the stage to demonstrate the facial recognition capabilities of the firm’s $999 (£999) iPhone X. But he was left red-faced after FaceID didn’t work on first attempt – instead prompting him to use his passcode
During Apple’s launch event on Tuesday, Mr Federighi took to the stage to demonstrate Face ID, but was left red-faced after the system didn’t work on first attempt – instead prompting him to use his passcode for access.
Last week, Apple has now offered an explanation for this in a statement toYahoo.
A spokesperson for Apple told Yahoo: ‘People were handling the device for the stage demo ahead of time and didn’t realise Face ID was trying to authenticate their face.
‘After failing a number of times, because they weren’t Craig, the iPhone did what it was designed to do, which was to require his passcode.’
Apple last week updated its App Store Review Guidelines for developers.
The new rules make it clear that children under 13 will not be allowed to use the Face ID facial scanning feature in the iPhone X.
The new rule says apps using facial recognition for account authentication must offer an alternate method for users under 13 years old.
Other tweaks to the Guidelines include rules against antivirus apps as well as a ban on ARKit apps, such as technology demos.