Erm.... I think I’ll regret asking - but why would you do that? You think they are secretly recording you? But if you think that, you should probably disable/cover up half of your device, turn off most of its features - because if they wanted to spy on you, they wouldn’t need a camera to do it effectively.
I'm inclined to trust Apple's intentions but I don't trust their devices are 100% impenetrable by others. Features and security risks usually have a trade off relationship. There is a balance that different people are comfortable with. For me, cameras that are always looking at me are where I feel uncomfortable enough to (so far) not want any features that it provides. Everyone is different.
You don’t know how Face ID works. It IS an abstract and it’s NOT storing a super accurate 3D model of your face. It is storing a series of numbers that are, in essence, the same as on Touch ID. There are some differences since Face ID stores this information and adapts it with machine learning over time - but in both cases it’s an abstract set of numbers stored in a secure, offline enclave. It’s not a 3D model of your face, just like Touch ID doesn’t store a picture of your fingerprint.
Since you’re covering up cameras, I’m guessing you don’t trust what Apple says, but then you shouldn’t trust Touch ID either. In other words: if you trust Touch ID, you should trust Face ID.
I remember all these privacy concerns when Touch ID arrived with iPhone 5S. “They are not storing my fingerprints!” Now, no one talks about these things anymore. It will be the same with Face ID.
People are scared of cameras for some reason. Even though I am 100% certain Apple devices are not spying you in secret, if they were - there would be MUCH better ways to do it then using the camera. They could track your movement (better disable that GPS, and Wifi while you’re at it.... and 4G come to think of it), they could record all your conversations (better tape over all those microphones) and they could use all your data, like credit card and health info and email correspondence, etc.
So, my question is - why the camera? If you don’t trust Apple, why is the camera where you draw the line? You should ditch phones and iPads alltogeather. Get off the grid and all that.
No, I don't have a deep technical knowledge of how Face ID nor Touch ID work. But a fingerprint itself is abstract. When I look at it, it means nothing to me. When I look at a face, it is much more personal. Technically, all digital information is abstract, being made up of 1s and 0s, if that's what you mean. But regardless, if somehow the data was accessed and somehow reconstructed, I would rather someone end up with my fingerprint rather than a model of my face. I don't know what benefit either would be for someone (I'm sure people are creative), but my face is much more personal to me. Also if someone really wants, they can already get my fingerprint from a number of other places, including Best Buy, which required a fingerprint scan to trade in an old iPad for some reason (which I didn't like, but it was a trade off I made for the convenience of not having to sell my iPad myself, also they caught me off guard). There is no place that has an accurate scan of my face.
Why not the mic, gps, and other tracking, you ask? I do minimize on all those as much as possible (giving permission only to apps that I deem to require it), but it's like I said, convenience has privacy/security risk trade offs and this is where I find my personal balance. I do use the cameras of course. But when I'm not using them, they are covered. It's easy to uncover/cover them with the frequency that I use them. With Face ID, I would have to leave the camera uncovered all the time for (arguably) slightly more convenience than Touch ID.
Another reason why I find a camera always looking at me to be a problem is that I don't want my device to know where I'm looking. I don't want it to read my reactions. I want my device (and anyone who may have access to my device) to know as little about me as possible. That's just how I am. I'm not on social media for the same reason.
I do make compromises if I see something as significantly beneficial. Then I accept the risks that come along with it because it's worth it to me. Touch ID was that type of compromise. I was getting very tired of punching in my passcode, so when it was announced I saw it as potentially very beneficial. I learned as much about the risks as I could, and it easily seemed worth it. On the other hand, I simply haven't seen Face ID provide anything I want.
Again, to each their own. I'm probably more extreme than most.
