The scary side of Touch ID

But here's the thing. Someone might be able to coerce a password from you with a wrench, as in this xkcd cartoon, or under the threat of a lawsuit, imprisonment, expulsion (from a school or country), death, or other means. But it still requires that threat and your acquiescence. If the information that would be revealed is too private, personal, or damaging, you might persist through whatever civil, criminal, or violent process and never give it up.

Mobile fingerprint sensors change that equation dramatically. Instead of nonphysical or physical intimidiation or violence-whether for a good cause or ill-an individual or agent of others who want some of your information must only get ahold of your device, ensure it hasn't been rebooted, and then be able to hold an appropriate digit still for long enough to validate one's fingerprint. And you have to be alive, not necesarily cooperative

But as I touch, touch, touch, I think about about Hong Kong and mainland China; about Afghanstan and Iraq...

Read More: http://www.macworld.com/article/2824225/the-scary-side-of-touch-id.html & http://xkcd.com/538/