Apple Patent Shows Behavior Recognition on iPhones to Improve Device Security

The United States Patent and Trademark Office today published an Apple patent application that shows how the company is working towards behavior recognition on iPhones to prevent against theft and improve device security. The patent shows how Apple is able to detect normal usage patterns, but if the device gets stolen and usage patterns do not match those of the owner, an alert or notification is triggered.

In some implementations, a method for determining behavior associated with a user device includes receiving behavior data of the user device that includes multiple types of behavior data. The behavior data is compared with patterns of behavior data associated with the user device. The behavior-data patterns are generated from previously-received behavior data. A notification is generated based on comparing the behavior data to the behavior-data patterns.

If the device detects unusual habits, it can prompt the user to enter a password or use Touch ID to scan their fingerprint.


Apple analyzes data ranging from location, grammar, vocabulary usage and gesture input/motion sensor data. Some data could be stored on a remote server for later recall and analysis. However, due to privacy concerns, the 'behavior learning server' can be modified by the user to ignore sensitive data such as location.

There's no way to tell if this would ever become a reality, but it is interesting to see Apple exploring different ways to enhance device security.

Read More via AppleInsider