Since the iPhone X has hit the market, people have been trying all sorts of ways to trick the phone’s Face ID feature, including this creepy, cobbled-together mask. While Apple has admitted that false positives can happen, it was thought this could only happen with twins, or siblings under the age of 13. However, a new video has popped up showing a 10-year-old unlocking his mother’s iPhone, suggesting that any family members who bear enough resemblance might be able to bypass the system.
In the video, the mother explains that despite setting up Face ID for her face, her son is able to unlock the phone using his face. A Wired report on the video notes that the son was able to do this upon picking up the phone for the first time. The son was also able to unlock his father’s phone, but only in one instance.
After the mother reregistered her face under different lighting, her son was no longer able to unlock her phone. She reregistered a third time in dimmer lighting to replicate her initial registration, and then, her son was able to unlock the phone again.
Although Apple says Face ID is more secure than Touch ID, this raises questions about the possibility of false positives not only happening with twins and siblings around the same age, but with people of different sexes and significantly different ages. It is possible that the son’s age played a role as Apple has said that the “undeveloped facial features” in those under the age of 13 could cause issues with Face ID.
We’ve reached out to Apple for comment and will update with a response.