How secure is Face ID? Apple exec Craig Federighi explains

If you haven’t, I highly recommend checking out this great interview by Matthew Panzarino at TechCrunch with Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi. In it they discuss all kinds of things from how Apple built Face ID, to using Face ID, and the security and privacy features built into Face ID. I know a lot of people are probably concerned about privacy when it comes to Face ID so I thought I’d share this excerpt that really reassured me that Apple isn’t doing anything with your face data.

When it comes to customers — users — Apple gathers absolutely nothing itself. Federighi was very explicit on this point.

“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,” he notes.

There is an adaptive feature of Face ID that allows it to continue to recognize your changing face as you change hair styles, grow a beard or have plastic surgery. This adaptation is done completely on device by applying re-training and deep learning in the redesigned Secure Enclave. None of that training or re-training is done in Apple’s cloud. And Apple has stated that it will not give access to that data to anyone, for any price.

So there you have it. Nothing to worry about with regard to Apple selling or using your Face ID data. All the Face ID processing is done locally, on your iPhone. Honestly, it sounds like Apple has truly built something special with Face ID based on everything I’ve read, but we shall see once I get my hands on the iPhone X.