How To Turn Off Facial Recognition On The New iPhone Because No Thank You

I’m not the most tech-savvy person, so every time a new iOS is released I feel pretty overwhelmed by all the new features. Apple’s release of iOS 11 has revealed animated emojis, new camera features, and last but not least, facial recognition. Facial Recognition ID will be Apple’s replacement for Touch ID, a program that faced many complaints from iPhone users. The new iOS 11 surpasses Samsung’s competitive facial recognition feature, because iOS 11 relies on detailed 3D identification, rather than 2D identification, to check out who you are and whether to let you into your phone. According to Gizmodo, the new iOS feature will “invisibly project over 30,000 dots onto your face each time you look at your phone, creating and building on its map of your features.”

I’m all for technological process, but the prospect of my phone mapping every detail of my face is kind of creepy... like The Matrix creepy. Luckily, if you like to keep your iPhone simple to use, facial recognition can allegedly be turned off easily. Though Apple hasn’t officially released instructions on how to completely disable facial recognition, iOS 11 does have an emergency call feature that is believed to bypass facial recognition ID as well as touch ID on older iPhones. To access this feature, all you need to do is push the power button five times in quick succession; your iPhone will give you the option to dial 911, but it will also temporarily deactivate the face and touch ID measures. It’s as simple as that.

This iOS 11 feature has been called a “cop button," while really it just serves as a extra security measure that allows the owner to protect their iPhone quickly, without waiting for it be powered down. The Verge reports that “Apple’s new method is a far more discreet way of locking out a phone, especially if you’re in a situation where you’re worried someone might force you to unlock your phone.” Many have cited the feature helps protect your information if you were ever unconscious or unlawfully searched. Basically, the feature is Apple’s new way of ensuring iPhone and iPad users have more privacy. Until the iPhone X release, it will not be clear how and if facial recognition can be disabled on a more permanent basis, but this hack will put the privacy-minded at ease for the time being.

More to come...