iPhone's Touch ID Fingerprint Scanner Questioned!

Here are some of the logics that Sen. AI Franken put forward in a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook followed by a set of questions that he raised in his letter, according to a story by CNET.com.

"If you don't tell anyone your password, no one will know what it is. If someone hacks your password, you can change it -- as many times as you want. You can't change your fingerprints.

"Passwords are secret and dynamic; fingerprints are public and permanent"

"A password doesn't uniquely identify its owner -- a fingerprint does"

"If hackers get a hold of your thumbprint, they could use it to identify and impersonate you for the rest of your life."

Questions

"Can Apple assure its users that it will never share their fingerprint files, along with tools or other information necessary to extract or manipulate the iPhone fingerprint data, with any government, absent appropriate legal authority and process?"

"Is it possible to convert locally-stored fingerprint data into a digital or visual format that can be used by third parties?"

You can access the detailed letter here.