FingerSecurity App (Protect ANY app with a fingerprint lock)...awesome!

[smooth4lyfe]

Just found this app, and works well! Put a fingerprint lock on ANY app...prevent people from reading your messages, viewing your pics, etc

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...com.rickclephas.fingersecurity&token=3T1jiVhg

 

[jschu22]

Just found this app, and works well! Put a fingerprint lock on ANY app...prevent people from reading your messages, viewing your pics, etc

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...com.rickclephas.fingersecurity&token=2nS8-vsF

My initial reaction was "awesome" but then I realized its a 3rd party developer and don't like the idea that they have access to my fingerprint. Also reminded me that I've read Samsung doesn't keep fingerprint data stored on the phone but in the cloud.

Yes its nice to have added functionality from this feature but I appreciate more how the fruit handles security.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[jschu22]

Didn't mean to @#$% on your thread though, I apologize.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[jcp007]

My initial reaction was "awesome" but then I realized its a 3rd party developer and don't like the idea that they have access to my fingerprint. Also reminded me that I've read Samsung doesn't keep fingerprint data stored on the phone but in the cloud.

Yes its nice to have added functionality from this feature but I appreciate more how the fruit handles security.

Posted via the Android Central App

Oddly enough,I was thinking the same thing.

 

[DanPLC]

The app is probably using the Samsung Pass SDK (Samsung GALAXY | SAMSUNG Developers) to use fingerprint recognition. I imagine Samsung provides an API call that basically says, "Does this fingerprint match one registered on the device". If the API returns "Yes", then the app is opened for you. The app wouldn't have access to your fingerprint.

 

[smooth4lyfe]

My initial reaction was "awesome" but then I realized its a 3rd party developer and don't like the idea that they have access to my fingerprint. Also reminded me that I've read Samsung doesn't keep fingerprint data stored on the phone but in the cloud.

Yes its nice to have added functionality from this feature but I appreciate more how the fruit handles security.

Posted via the Android Central App

Thats actually a good point...never thought about that
I'm interested in seeing how secure this app really is
It would be a good question to ask the developer

 

[smooth4lyfe]

The app is probably using the Samsung Pass SDK (Samsung GALAXY | SAMSUNG Developers) to use fingerprint recognition. I imagine Samsung provides an API call that basically says, "Does this fingerprint match one registered on the device". If the API returns "Yes", then the app is opened for you. The app wouldn't have access to your fingerprint.

This is what I was thinking too, if thats the case then I would presume its a safe app

 

[DanPLC]

I'm sure the app is safe. I checked and it's using the com.samsung.android.providers.context.permission.WRITE_USE_APP_FEATURE_SURVEY permission. I use the same permission in my app since I'm also using the Samsung SDK (in my case for multi-window support).

 

[player22]

My initial reaction was "awesome" but then I realized its a 3rd party developer and don't like the idea that they have access to my fingerprint. Also reminded me that I've read Samsung doesn't keep fingerprint data stored on the phone but in the cloud.

Yes its nice to have added functionality from this feature but I appreciate more how the fruit handles security.

Posted via the Android Central App

If samsung kept your fingerprint data in the cloud instead of the phone what happens when you try to unlock your phone where there's no signal.
Am I missing something here.

 

[DanPLC]

If samsung kept your fingerprint data in the cloud instead of the phone what happens when you try to unlock your phone where there's no signal.
Am I missing something here.

I'm sure the data must be kept locally, but the question is whether 3rd party apps have access to the fingerprint data. That would be no. They only have access to Samsung's APIs that tell them that the scanned fingerprint is valid.

Now whether you trust Samsung to properly encrypt your fingerprint data is a whole other question. Personally, I'm not worried about it.

 

[jschu22]

If samsung kept your fingerprint data in the cloud instead of the phone what happens when you try to unlock your phone where there's no signal.
Am I missing something here.

That's a good point, and a good answer after your post. I'm still at least a bit concerned with whether or not this data is only stored on the phone and if Samsung has access to it. Not that I fear Samsung using it, I'd just rather that info be kept between my phone and me.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Rick C1]

As the developer of FingerSecurity, I can assure you that third party apps don't have access to the fingerprint data. As mentioned before this is all handled by Samsungs SDK.

I did not read anything about fingerprints being stored in the Cloud. I did read that Samsung saves encrypted patterns to recognize your fingerprint(not your actual fingerprint) on your device.

 

[Kevin Graf]

Awesome, thanks for sharing

 

[joesworld]

Love this app. Purchased the option to allow for specific fingers per app. Flawless so far!

 

[mclark1242]

Where did you read Samsung stores the fingerprint in the cloud? Yes you need a Samsung account but I'm not sure they store it in the cloud. If you reset your device and log into Samsung your fingerprints are not saved.

 

[DanPLC]

As the developer of FingerSecurity, I can assure you that third party apps don't have access to the fingerprint data. As mentioned before this is all handled by Samsungs SDK.

I did not read anything about fingerprints being stored in the Cloud. I did read that Samsung saves encrypted patterns to recognize your fingerprint(not your actual fingerprint) on your device.

Great job on the app. I've been using it to protect some apps like my bank app (for obvious reasons) and certain games like Modern Combat 5 that I wouldn't want my 5-year old to play when she's on my phone. I purchased the theme upgrade mainly to support the app (the default theme is quite nice).

 

[claykin]

To anyone running this app and using it to secure an phone app:

What happens if you reboot the phone and quickly open a secured app? Can you successfully open the secured app without needing a fingerprint?

Also, what happens if you use a task killer and kill the fingersecurity app?

Just wondering if this app provides real world security or security through obscurity.