Here's the problem I see - your phone is covered with your fingerprints. If someone steals your phone they've got your prints.
How long will it be until a super cheap fingerprint spoof kit is available? I envision something as simple as using some rubber cement to lift a print from the phone's case, sprinkle some dust (toner?) on it to emphasize the minutiae and then wrapping it around your own finger.
It will probably be more complicated than that, but all it takes is someone to discover a vulnerability in the hardware and all current phones will become insecure. The one thing you can count on is that if there is money to be had, there will be a lot of effort expended trying to find such vulnerabilities.
Outside HN context, people in general are not that literate when it comes to tech. Maybe I underestimate it but judging from minimum data around me, there's a very good reason why only a select-few companies are known by the majority of the world.
Chopping off the fingers has all kinds of barriers.
First, it takes a much larger empathy gap to physically hurt someone in such a visceral fashion versus simply threatening them with violence in order to mug them.
Second, the owner has to be involved in order to chop off their fingers. That means simply stealing it while it is unattended or even pick-pocketing it while the owner is distracted aren't options. My impression is that those are much more common cases than muggings.
How long will it be until a super cheap fingerprint spoof kit is available? I envision something as simple as using some rubber cement to lift a print from the phone's case, sprinkle some dust (toner?) on it to emphasize the minutiae and then wrapping it around your own finger.
It will probably be more complicated than that, but all it takes is someone to discover a vulnerability in the hardware and all current phones will become insecure. The one thing you can count on is that if there is money to be had, there will be a lot of effort expended trying to find such vulnerabilities.