Scientists at a 3D-printing lab in MI are trying to help authorities unlock a murder victim’s phone by creating replicas of the dead man’s fingers. We also don’t know why police weren’t able to apply the cadaver’s finger directly, although their access to the body may have been limited. Using scans of the prints, Arora created 3-D replicas of all 10 fingers.
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One way to gain access to the phone would be to ask the company that made the phone to grant them access, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation famously asked Apple to do following the San Bernardino terror attacks. When officers investigating a murder approached MSU’s Anil Jain last month, they hoped he would be able to achieve the unusual goal of creating fake fingers, by using a 3D printer and data from fingerprint scans collected years before. Since plastic material does not carry electrical charge the scientists covered the replicas with a special metallic coating. The authorities, instead of going to the manufacturer of the fingerprint scanner-equipped smartphone, chose to try having Jain recreate the fingers of the murder victim.
Although already a complicated process, there were further aspects that Jain and Arora needed to consider before their 3D printed fingers had a chance of unlocking the smartphone.
It’s unclear whether the phone was at the heart of the MI case was an iPhone, or if the case itself took place before the new iOS rules took effect. Pressure applied to the surface of the display by a finger causes the layers to touch which completes electrical circuits and alerts the device as to where the user is touching. It could become the first time such technology has been used in an active police investigation.
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Rotenberg said that if the phone belonged to a crime suspect, rather than a victim, police would be subject to a Supreme Court ruling forcing cops to get a search warrant before they unlocked the phone-with a 3D printed finger or otherwise. In contrast, PINs are more secure because the Fifth Amendment prevents government agencies from compelling people to turn over things in their minds, like memorized passcodes. “Obviously, the victim is not at risk of incrimination”, security and law researcher Bryan Choi told Fusion.
