Face unlock: How foolproof is it?

Facial recognition is a convenient way to unlock your phone but this 'no touch' feature is not the most secure way to keep your phone locked. On one hand, the technology is still in a very nascent stage and on the other, it can be fooled easily. Until aspects like depth sensing, check for eyes open, etc. can be introduced, this technology is not going to be foolproof.

Face unlock technology in its current state can be misused by a child to unlock the phone by showing it in front of your face while you are sleeping and start purchasing games. This gets worse when a stranger (say co-passenger) picks up your unattended phone, or your boy/girlfriend flashes it across your face without even you noticing and gains access to your phone content. Given the speed at which your face gets detected, this is definitely going to make things easier for the one trying to gain access to your phone.

To top it all, there are videos showing people unlocking phones using a simple photo on Samsung S8. Even Samsung is fairly transparent on this matter.

So what's better for today? The fingerprint unlock has a 'single touch' and possible vibration at the time of unlocking, so it has a slightly better chance of preventing misuse. The most secure option would still be the pin or passcode as it involves 'multiple touches'. So make a wise choice.