Apple Files Patent to Activate “Panic Mode” Using Touch ID

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Carrying sensitive information on your iPhone can quickly turn into a stressful situation, but Apple plans to give you one less reason to panic. According to a Business Insider report, the Silicon Valley company has filed a patent that will allow users to activate “panic mode” using Touch ID.

When you unlock your phone with a designated finger using the secret panic mode method, you can choose one of the three courses of action: to either limit the device’s access to personal information, activate preset actions or even reset the device altogether.

Since you can add more fingerprints to the Touch ID, Apple’s patent suggests that iPhone users could designate a particular fingerprint (let’s say, your left index finger) in order to alert the iPhone to unlock in “panic mode.” Thus, your left index finger will become your secret “panic finger.”

According to the details specified in the patent, you’re not supposed to use the panic finger only when you are in distress or in some kind of emergency situation, because your iPhone will respond accordingly. Even though the range of response options is still in debate, there are several things your phone can do in panic mode.

For example, you could set it to take photos of the person forcing you to unlock your phone and then pass them over iCloud to the authorities, along with your GPS coordinates. Another scenario could prompt your iPhone to send distress signals to iPhones nearby. The panic finger could also translate into an immediate emergency call upon unlocking.

In a tech era when securing your private information starts to feel like a full time job, Apple’s patent has significant importance. In case your iPhone gets stolen, the company wants you to be able to rely on a panic mode to secure your personal data. This is even more relevant seeing that Touch ID can now be used to also authorize Apple Pay.

If hackers and thieves become cleverer in their endeavors, why wouldn’t tech companies start using smarter response actions? And it’s easy to think of more applications for the “panic mode” patent; your iPhone could also secretly alert 911, giving them your name and location without you having to utter a word.

But just because Apple has filed this patent it doesn’t mean this technology will be making an apparition in the future iPhone 7. It just means Apple has legal grounds to take any other phone-maker to court if they want to implement this technology in the near future, saying they thought of it first.
Image Source: Mac Kung Fu

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Matthew Slotkin

Matthew Slotkin has graduated from Rice University with a degree in History and English. He worked as an assistant professor before joining The Mirror Daily as a full time writer.