2 women arrested, accused of using victim's cellphone facial recognition in $1,250 Atlantic City robbery
Two women were arrested in Atlantic City after allegedly using a robbery victim's face — either forcibly or without consent — to unlock the victim's phone via facial recognition, stealing approximately $1,250 in the process.
Why this matters: Biometric security was supposed to make your phone safer. This case shows how it can be turned against you. If someone physically controls you, they can control your face, and your face is the key. You cannot change your face after a breach the way you change a password. As phones store more of our financial and personal lives, the assumption that biometrics protect you needs to be tested against how crimes actually happen.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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