Can your fingerprints really be stolen from your Facebook photos?

With the improved resolution of digital photography, the answer is… possibly. A researcher from the National Institute of Informatics has successfully obtained fingerprints from a photograph taken 3 meters (almost 10 feet) away from the subject. That peace sign you flash at the high pixel cell phone camera for your Facebook selfie might allow a thief to steal your identity, especially with a good photo of your face and the personal information you’ve entered into Facebook.

In 2014, hacker Jan Krissler recreated the fingerprints of the German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen. He used high resolution photos, including one from a press release from her own office, and one he snapped himself at close range. With the photos and a commercial fingerprint software he was able to reverse engineer an identifiable fingerprint.

While you may not be a high value target for thieves, your fingerprint information is static, so it’s worth protecting. If stolen, it could potentially be used fraudulently against you for the rest of your lifetime. It's good to know fingerprints are often used with passwords for an extra layer of security in biometric authentication. It's also a good idea to keep learning about changing technology. That way you’ll know what to do – or in this case what not to do to protect yourself.


Protect yourself from fingerprint theft in selfies, says Professor. No, really!

Sheetal Kumbhar for VanillaPlus, January 16, 2017 


Hacker fakes German minister's fingerprints using photos of her hands 

Alex Hern for The Guardian, December 30, 2014