FACIAL BIOMETRIC AUTHENTICATION FOR SMARTPHONES: THE INTERSECTION OF SECURITY AND USABILITY

Abstract

This thesis explores the facial recognition landscape in smartphones, analyzing the historical, technological, and functional context to better understand the interdependence between two key ideas: usability and security. These ideas are not new in the security landscape, but they play an ever-growing role of importance in smartphones as so much more data becomes stored on these mobile devices (health, finance, etc.). There is always contention between usability and security. For smartphones, the desire for convenience seemingly outweighs the need for security. Facial recognition, when first introduced in smartphones, served strictly as a function of convenience because it was so immensely flawed and easily spoofed. A big draw to customers was the ability to avoid entering a password. Biometrics, in general, are advertised as the most secure form of authentication. However, the way biometric systems are implemented completely determines their security. While Face-ID was certainly not secure initially, how the technology has evolved has undoubtedly changed my perspective on where the technology is today. Future research could explore the ideas discussed in this thesis in a quantitative real-world survey.