[dspillett]

> A fingerprint is something you cannot change

Many builders/carpenters/etc will tell you this is not true. People who work in abrasive environments sometimes without proper protection often temporarily have no fingerprints as they are "warn off".

Many injuries can effectively modify or remove the too, at least temporarily.

This makes them bad usernames as well as bad passwords.

[gfo]

> People who work in abrasive environments sometimes without proper protection often temporarily have no fingerprints as they are "warn off".

Do they come back in the same form as they previously were?

[marzell]

Either way, this is a terrible argument toward good security. "Oh, someone got a copy of your fingerprint? No problem! There's a belt sander right over there!"

[underbluewaters]

This is a sore point with the new iphones for me. It happens at least once a week with routine hobby-farm work. I'm really looking forward to getting faceid.

[Tharkun]

Interesting. I wonder if anyone has studied what it would take to render fingerprints useless? Like N minutes/day of sanding with Y grit sandpaper?

Additionally, I was under the impression that some fingerprint readers looked at the blood vessels rather than the actual prints. Not sure how that would be affected by abrasion. Perhaps this is a misunderstanding on my end.

[cpeterso]

An example that can affect many people: my iPhone can't read my fingerprint when I'm sweating at the gym.