Bureau of Sabotage
Michael Cohen warrants show how the FBI can unlock your phone and track your movements
Notably, the FBI made use of Cohen’s use of Touch ID and Face ID on his Apple devices, which allow users to quickly log into iPhones and computers by scanning their face or fingerprint rather than typing in a password. Those features are marketed as faster and more secure ways to securely log into one’s devices, as it’s harder, though not impossible, to replicate someone’s fingerprint or appearance.
But that gives law enforcement an additional means to access those devices. In one warrant application for Cohen, an FBI agent requested authorization “to press the fingers (including thumbs) of Cohen to the Touch ID sensors of the Subject Devices, or hold the Subject Devices in front of Cohen’s face, for the purpose of attempting to unlock the Subject Devices via Touch ID or Face ID.”