London ( CNN ) -- Using your fingerprint to identify yourself seems beguilingly simple : it belongs only to you , and you are n't going to lose it . Apple 's use of fingerprint technology -- although not the first in the industry -- seems very in tune with its ethos of making devices easy to use . However , how safe fingerprint technologies really are does depend on how they are implemented . You might ask , is my fingerprint stored , who else can access it ? Can the government demand that Apple hand my fingerprints to them , or use Apple to identify criminals from their database ? Apple have stated on record that they do not store fingerprints , and nor does the device . Instead , the iPhone stores the result of a check -- a `` hash , '' which may be unique , but ca n't reveal your fingerprint . But after the revelations by Edward Snowden that Apple was one of four Internet companies to have handed over data to the NSA , Apple has a much harder job to persuade the public to trust them . We need to know that backdoors wo n't be built into iPhones to allow security services ' to retrieve your fingerprint data . The NSA has been shown to have a program of demanding means of entry to the software and hardware of all cell phones , through introducing security flaws . These flaws -- software bugs -- are also available to criminals and competing security agencies to exploit . Are we going to trust Apple 's security wo n't be compromised ? They are participants in the PRISM scheme -- whatever precisely that involves . How else are they co-operating with secret NSA demands ? The long-term answer to these security trust issues is to reveal the whole of these systems , including the underlying `` source code '' so that computer programmers can check how they work , and ensure that systems are not compromised . That 's not really the kind of approach that Apple has been famous for , often being very closed about their software development and asking us to trust them to know best . Citizens and businesses should not have to trust their security to systems they can not examine . Apple 's fingerprint system does create a risk of `` normalizing '' biometrics . Because of the iPhone 's widespread use , people may increasingly expect to use similar `` easy '' and `` safe '' biometric systems , without considering that they create highly personal identification , with risks of being tracked and surveilled , and yet do not necessarily deliver the security that they imply . Other low level fingerprint ID systems suffer the same problems , yet are being employed in schools , even to replace library cards . Biometrics can create a false sense of security . It is easy to assume that the tools really are a hard identification of an individual , and therefore , the technology can not be fooled , or go wrong . However , systems can be fooled . Fingerprints and even your iris can be replicated . Apple 's fingerprint system may encounter a simple problem , in that the key to unlocking your phone -- your fingerprint -- could well be liberally scattered across the phone you are trying to protect . While the phone may also look for body heat , or skin irregularities , there is at least a distinct path which could be used to try to break into a phone . We 'll have to see if anyone can use it successfully . Some of these risks are manageable , through transparency and audit . The wider social risks are far harder to manage ; arguably they are n't Apple 's problem . Perhaps society needs to start having a much more intense debate about security and privacy , starting off with asking : whose security are we worrying about : my own , or the state 's ? How do I know what risks I am taking , and why should I trust any of the claims that are made ? People understand what a wallet or a doorlock is . The risks with personal and financial information are less tangible , and the risks of state abuse of power sometimes less tangible still . But these come with the digital technology ; we will truly be citizens of the digital age when we can successfully debate and deal with these problems . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jim Killock .
iPhone 's new Apple 5S features fingerprint recognition technology . Snowden : Apple must persuade public to trust them after Jim Killock 's revelations . Apple 's fingerprint system does create a risk of `` normalizing '' biometrics - Killock .