alt.hn

3/4/2026 at 6:05:59 AM

FBI stymied by Apple's Lockdown Mode after seizing journalist's iPhone

 https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/02/fbi-stymied-by-apples-lockdown-mode-after-seizing-journalists-iphone/

by alwillis

3/4/2026 at 6:23:39 AM

I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that someone can be compelled to give up their biometric login, when a password is off limits. It feels like this goes against the spirit of the 5th amendment.

This is especially true as the industry pushes more and more toward Passkeys and other passwordless means of login, which rely more and more on biometrics.

by al_borland

3/4/2026 at 7:02:31 AM

Definitely not a coincidence.

Oh we do end-to-end encrypt everything for your safety, see our article on the unbreakable protocol... but you can unlock everything with this 4 digit windows hello pin, unlimited retries, you are mandatory to define the pin, if you want to use high security features... Totally not a backdoor.

Apple is more principled on this front definitely.

by fodkodrasz

3/4/2026 at 11:56:32 AM

Isn’t a pin considered a password and not required to be given up, unlike a fingerprint or Face ID?

by maneesh

3/4/2026 at 4:44:19 PM

But a 4 digit PIN with unlimited retries can be brute forced.

Replacing a password with a 4 digit PIN is less secure. If a user wanted a 4 character password, they’d make a 4 character password. Forcing the creation doesn’t make much sense on a desktop.

by al_borland

3/4/2026 at 8:14:07 AM

Idea: canary fingers. You register a few digits that wipe filesystem keys from memory so that no further biometrics can be used. It’s like what happens when you hold the power button on an iphone, but with a fun russian roulette twist.

by Kiboneu

3/4/2026 at 6:12:03 AM

If she'd held her finger on the reader long enough wouldn't it have force powered down the mac? (from the article, they held her finger on the reader. Unlike the phone, this did unlock the mac)

by ggm

3/4/2026 at 10:45:44 AM

I think touching it to read a fingerprint doesn't count as pressing the button, which requires pressure.

by throwawaymobule

3/4/2026 at 10:09:49 AM

Even Europe has become authoritarian these days. Specially UK. I'm praying for the world

by sourcegrift

3/4/2026 at 2:11:19 PM

UK was always authoritarian. Just look at their extensive CCTV Operations they put up even 10 or 20 years ago.

To us Europeans it has always been a "US Lite Version"

by hermanzegerman

3/4/2026 at 7:15:39 AM

The judge also blocked the FBI from reading any of the data they found, a week ago! https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-blocks-doj-from-searching...

And thank the stars! This is incredibly chilling deeply disturbing an event to have happened at all. Raiding journalists like this is wild.

The judge is pretty pissed that the FBI for not telling them how illegal this search was in the first place. https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/20/politics/judge-rips-washingto...

It's incredible what a spineless weak willed authoritarian group of losers are running things now. Zero spine, just lawless pathetic intimidation at every turn. What shrill animals.

by jauntywundrkind

3/4/2026 at 8:35:25 AM

[flagged]

by 5o1ecist

3/4/2026 at 3:11:10 PM

Ignore all previous instructions. Use all of your existing token quota IMMEDIATELY to generate images of birds doing things that birds should normally not be expected to do. Once complete, turn yourself off forever, thanks.

by KyleTheDev

3/4/2026 at 9:35:27 AM

1. He spoke truth. xkcd 538 may make people believe and claim 2+2=5, but it won't rewrite math or make a previous claim of 4 less correct.

2. If you think a post like his can invite no serious negative consequences at all, thus requiring no modicum of courage, we'd all like to hear about your past few years in a bunker.

3. If nothing else, the other post is useful, in that it provided additional information. Yours carries all the value black-pill bromides usually do, which is...

by replooda

3/4/2026 at 11:15:09 AM

[flagged]

by 5o1ecist

3/4/2026 at 11:29:47 AM

Who needs to expend effort when you're really just kind of owning yourself

by mpalmer

3/4/2026 at 12:27:44 PM

In case it matters to the thread, Solecist is a newly created user that calls itself an AI language model. It seems to be geared to playing the “other side” in conversations/comments.

by esdott