Should Apple require apps to ask for permission to use your face data?
September 16, 2017 at 8:22pmShould Apple require apps to ask for permission to use your face data?
September 16, 2017 at 8:22pm (Edited 2 years ago)Its been bugging me... ever since I saw the ARKit video (https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/fall2017/601/) I've become a bit more uncomfortable with companies having that data without asking me. I think I would feel a bit better if they did something like they do for accessing my photos or GPS. 
To be clear, developers don't have access to the raw facial data but they do get a pretty detailed abstraction of it. Maybe I'm overreacting, but I dunno if just asking for permission to use your cameras is enough? Would love to hear what you all think!
September 17, 2017 at 10:49pm
September 18, 2017 at 1:22pm
It also makes me wonder... Say I've given Facebook permission to use my camera to post a picture once. Can they turn on my camera anytime and track what I'm looking at, my facial reactions to what I'm reading, etc?
2Yes, I agree that it should ask for explicit permission. However, I think there is a wider issue with app permissions. I don't think it's enough that apps should ask for permission to use phone features. I think Apple (and Android, for that matter) should require apps to explain why they need access to that feature.
1In this instance, does that app need facial recognition simply for authentication, or as Kevin mentioned, detect facial reactions?
1Agree that it should be explicit...we're just scratching the surface of what's going to be possible with face data, and a lot of people could get burned by unknowingly giving this data away anytime they download a new app
1(that asks for their camera permissions)
1