In every device that you can unlock with biometrics like fingerprint or face scanner (Laptops, Tablets, Phones, etc.), they often claim entering a password is safer than using biometrics, and they block the most secure settings and information behind a passcode rather than a quick fingerprint or face scanner. Wouldn’t it be easier to steal a password than it would be to physically copy someone’s fingerprint?
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It’s safer in a legal sense. In the US (and other places too but I don’t know the specifics) the government can make you unlock a device with a fingerprint or other biometric marker, but they cannot make you give them a password (they can of course just do some [rubber hose cryptoanalysis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber-hose_cryptanalysis) and some [parallel construction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction) but that’s a separate matter).
It’s also safer in a technological sense. You could steal a password from, say, an insecure database that’s storing them unsafely, but you could steal a biometric identifier in the same way. You could steal a password that’s been written down in a notebook somewhere, and you could take someone’s fingerprints by snagging their keys or something. But if you’re responsible, you won’t be writing your password down. You can’t choose not to leave fingerprints when you touch stuff though. And, importantly, *you can change a password if it’s compromised, you can’t change your biometrics*. That’s a problem if someone does some hacking, or if they just [look enough like you](https://www.wired.com/story/10-year-old-face-id-unlocks-mothers-iphone-x/), or [even has the same fingerprint](https://www.crammlawfirm.com/fingerprint-match-jails-innocent-man/).
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