With the launch of the iPhone 5S on Sept. 10, 2013, Apple introduced an integrated fingerprint scanner. Called Touch ID, it let users unlock their iPhone with a simple gesture instead of a four-digit PIN. It also brought biometric authentication to the market.

This is Day 19 of 30 Days of iPhone, a look at the moments that shaped the smartphone era .

How Did Apple Store Fingerprints Securely In Your iPhone?

After Apple acquired AuthenTec in 2012 for $356 million , introducing a fingerprint reader was only a matter of time. Apple mounted the technology inside a laser-cut sapphire crystal ring to capture a scan of the fingerprint.

Apple kept all the processing and storage on the iPhone. No user data was sent to or stored in the cloud. Instead, it sent encrypted data to the Secure Enclave inside the Apple Silicon A7. This data was used to verify the fingerprint locally, without giving either first- or third-party apps direct access.

It was a win for consumers, and smartphone security increased . Many consumers skipped over using a PIN code for speed and ease of use. Touch ID worked nearly instantaneously. With strong on-device encryption, apps could confirm the user’s identity, making the iPhone a secure mobile commerce device .

The Long-Term Impact of the iPhone’s Touch ID on Mobile Security

Touch ID’s legacy shows up in countless smartphones, both from Apple and beyond. While Face ID has taken precedence on the iPhone, Touch ID remains on modern iPad Air tablets, the newly launched iPhone Duo, and the Mac keyboard. It shifted privacy expectations and allowed apps to access hardware encryption for authentication. It was, and still is, one of the building blocks of a trust-based system.

This is Day 19 of 30 Days of iPhone. Yesterday, we looked at the introduction of a Flat UI and how it brought hardware and software closer together .