Security of devices who implement Face Unlock on Android 10

Question

I would like to understand how secure facial recognition on android 10 is.

First of all, I haven't found much information about the new google system and how secure it is, and I also haven't found any information about what android devices can contain ( which means they have the physical requirements ) the new android 10 facial recognition.

I would love if you can explain why/if it is more secure now then before.

Answer 1

There is not a universal Android face unlock - each device maker creates their own implementation. However, they all do need to meet certain security requirements referenced in the Android Compatibility Definition Document for Android 10.

Strong biometrics (such as Pixel's face-unlock feature) must have a spoof acceptance rate ("The chance that a biometric model accepts a previously recorded, known good sample") of at most 7%, and a false accept rate ("how often a model mistakenly accepts a randomly chosen incorrect input") of at most 1 in 50000.

Of course, this is the minimum security level: implementations may be stronger than the minimum required.

There are other strength classes of biometrics (weak, convenience) - you can check that link for detailed descriptions and requirements for each strength class.