this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2026
183 points (92.6% liked)
Cybersecurity
10390 readers
376 users here now
c/cybersecurity is a community centered on the cybersecurity and information security profession. You can come here to discuss news, post something interesting, or just chat with others.
THE RULES
Instance Rules
- Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here.
- No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia.
- No Ads / Spamming.
- No pornography.
Community Rules
- Idk, keep it semi-professional?
- Nothing illegal. We're all ethical here.
- Rules will be added/redefined as necessary.
If you ask someone to hack your "friends" socials you're just going to get banned so don't do that.
Learn about hacking
Other security-related communities !databreaches@lemmy.zip !netsec@lemmy.world !securitynews@infosec.pub !cybersecurity@infosec.pub !pulse_of_truth@infosec.pub
Notable mention to !cybersecuritymemes@lemmy.world
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Do any phones even allow 4 digit Pins? Apple doesn't, and my Samsung doesn't.
No one can force you to give up the PIN. They can threaten, and you may give in to that threat. But that isn't forcing, that isn't against your will.
But, a criminal can get you to unlock your phone with biometrics against your will easily enough - brute strength, render you unconscious, or even dead.
My pixel allows a 4 digit pin. Mine is 7 digits but I also don't use biometrics.
Just had a look and it's Face/Fingerprint/Pin/Swipe/Pattern/Password.
That's called force, and against your will.
That's just fundamentally not understanding how the terms work. A coerced action, or one taken under duress, is not taken of ones own free will.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/duress
My comment was in reply to another saying a bad guy can force you to put your finger on the unlock sensor. There is no equivalent for pins.
They can threaten, yes, and you can give into that threat. Yes, that would be against your will, but it still requires you to acquiesce or cooperate was my point. The can't get the pin without you giving it.
Yeah, and if you're being robbed they'll probably fuck you up pretty badly if you don't. While not mind readers, they don't have to be.
In most cases anyone who wants to beat your pin will just watch you unlock your phone. They don't need to see the exact numbers: you can pick most of it up just based on relative finger motion. Looking at screen smudges gives another set of hints that are pretty trivial to extract.
If your goal is to keep it from the police, your best bet is to use an entirely different system than rely on your phones lock screen.
I can't think of a scenario where I'm thinking both "biometrics are insufficient to safeguard this data" and "it's appropriate to keep this data on my telephone".