Facepass

Facepass

Modern FaceID login for Linux

A fast, secure, and privacy-focused facial recognition module for Linux desktops.

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Why Facepass?
While there is an existing FaceID login module for Linux called Howdy, it is no longer actively maintained (last release: Sep 2, 2020). Many of its dependencies are deprecated, and it lacks spoof detection capabilities.

To address these issues, we—@npvinh and @thaitran24—created Facepass: a modern, secure, and actively maintained alternative.

Installation

Using Debian Package

VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/TickLabVN/facepass/releases/latest | jq -r .tag_name)
UBUNTU_VERSION=$(lsb_release -rs)
wget https://github.com/TickLabVN/facepass/releases/download/$VERSION/facepass-$VERSION-ubuntu-$UBUNTU_VERSION.deb -O facepass.deb

# Install the package
sudo dpkg -i facepass.deb

# Fix any dependency issues
sudo apt install --fix-broken

Adding Your Face

Once Facepass is installed, you can register your face by running the following command:

facepass register

A window will open, prompting you to position your face in front of the camera. Ensure your face is well-lit and clearly visible. Press Enter or Esc to capture your face and close the window. The captured face data will be stored in ~/.config/facepass.

To remove your face data from the system, use the command:

facepass unregister

Enabling Face Login

By default, the FaceID login module is disabled. To enable it, execute:

sudo facepass enable

After enabling, suspend your current session and log in again to test the FaceID functionality. If you wish to disable the FaceID login module, you can do so by running:

sudo facepass disable

Configuration

In some cases, the RGB camera may not be ready, or poor lighting conditions can cause the FaceID login to fail. To mitigate this, you can adjust the PAM configuration. By default, Facepass will retry up to 10 times before giving up, with a small delay of 200 milliseconds between attempts. Additionally, Facepass includes an optional face anti-spoofing feature. This feature is disabled by default because weaker cameras may lack the resolution required for accurate detection. You can use this command to get the current settings:

facepass config get

To change the configuration, use the following command:

facepass config set --retries=<number_of_retries> --delay=<delay_in_milliseconds> --anti-spoofing=<true_or_false>

For example, to set the retries to 5, the delay to 300 milliseconds, and enable anti-spoofing, you would run:

facepass config set --retries=5 --delay=300 --anti-spoofing=true

Note: Ensure the FaceID login module is enabled before using the facepass config command.

How to Contribute

We welcome contributions from the community! Here’s how you can help:

1. Report Issues: Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue on our GitHub repository.
2. Submit Pull Requests: Fix bugs, improve documentation, or add new features. Check out our contribution guidelines for more details.
3. Test and Provide Feedback: Help us improve by testing Facepass on different Linux distributions and hardware setups.
4. Spread the Word: Share Facepass with your friends and colleagues. The more users we have, the better we can make it!

Future Work

It's important to note that Facepass is still in its early stages. There are several features it currently lacks:

• Extended Login Support: Apply face recognition to other login methods (e.g., sudo, su). See issue #5.
• Face Anti-Spoofing: Enhance security with anti-spoofing measures. This feature will be optional for users with weaker cameras.
• IR Camera Support: Expand compatibility to include infrared cameras. Currently, only RGB cameras are supported.
• Keyring Unlock: User must enter password on the first login time to unlock applications, see https://askubuntu.com/a/238055 for more details. We will find the way to eliminate it.

Feel free to contribute to any of these features or suggest new ones!