iPhone X Face Recognition Can’t Tell Chinese People Apart

By :
Asia Wire

When the iPhone X came out everyone was losing their minds over the facial recognition feature.

It was hailed by Apple fanatics as an amazing technological advancement which would make iPhones even easier to use.

But recent reports are suggesting the feature is struggling to distinguish between people of Chinese heritage, with some even branding Apple ‘racist’.

One woman was shocked to find her iPhone could be unlocked by her son, while another woman realised she could unlock her colleague’s iPhone X despite them having different features.

Asia Wire

A father who bought the expensive gadget for his wife was shocked to find his son could also bypass the Face ID, and phoned Apple’s customer service hotline to report the problem.

Advertising

He was told it was a rare, isolated case caused by his wife and son looking very similar, though it has been reported that the tech giant are now launching a full investigation into the family’s claims.

This comes just one week after a Chinese woman realised she could unlock her colleague’s iPhone X using the facial recognition.

In the below video, you can see how one woman was able to easily unlock the other’s phone.

Asia Wire

This was despite the two having a number of different features, including totally different haircuts.

The pair took the phone to an Apple store to prove what happened and found they could unlock every single phone in the shop.

Advertising

Madam Yan was told the camera was faulty and given a new iPhone X but the same thing happened again.

[ooyala player_id=”5df2ff5a35d24237905833bd032cd5d8″ auto=”true” width=”640″ height=”518″ pcode=”twa2oyOnjiGwU8-cvdRQbrVTiR2l” code=”doaGpzZDE6AhIGkqHRHjCOswNL1XZks5″]

Madam Wan, the colleague of the phone owner, said:

We look quite ordinary. What if someone picks up my phone and opens it? They could buy stuff through my phone and make payments.

We don’t have a sense of security.

It has been suggested the iPhone X is unable to tell Chinese people apart from one another.

Asia Wire

This allegation has been refuted by Apple, who continue to maintain that its facial recognition software is close to foolproof.

Advertising

They claim there is only a one in a million chance of someone else’s face being able to unlock your phone.

Face ID’s launch backfired spectacularly but that was more down to user error on the part of the Apple vice president, Craig Federighi.

However Apple’s claims haven’t convinced people in China who are becoming more and more concerned that their iPhone’s safety might be compromised.