---
title: "Man Unlocks Smartphone Using Severed Finger"
description: "Retired auditor living in rural Spain used the severed tip of his index finger to successfully unlock his Samsung Galaxy A20 smartphone."
date: "2021-05-11"
modified: "2021-05-11"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/man-unlocks-smartphone-severed-finger"
categories:
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "smartphones"
  - "the digest"
---

# Man Unlocks Smartphone Using Severed Finger

![Retired auditor living in rural Spain used the severed tip of his index finger to successfully unlock his Samsung Galaxy A20 smartphone.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/man-unlocks-smartphone-severed-finger.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kucinski/5183181749" target="\_blank"\>Ben Kucinski via Flickr\</a\>\</em\>*

## Still Works

It sounds like something from a corny action flick.

Kieran Higgins, a retiree living in rural Spain, used the severed tip of his index finger to successfully unlock his Samsung Galaxy A20 smartphone, [*The Register* reports](<https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/06/samsung_galaxy/>).

Higgins lost the tip of his index finger two weeks earlier in an industrial accident involving a crane. He chose to keep what remained of his crushed digit in a vat of medical-grade alcohol as a precaution in case insurance ever gave him any trouble in the future.

And as it turns out, it made for a fun at-home technology test. "I extracted \[the fingertip\] from its grave of medicinal alcohol, dried it off and... eureka! ... managed to register my dead finger on my phone," Higgins told the newspaper.

## Dead or Alive

It worked since it was, well, the exact same finger that was used to set up the device. It is at least a little bit unusual however since many devices with fingerprint scanners require the finger to be able to conduct electricity, as [*Live Science* reported](<https://www.livescience.com/62393-dead-fingerprint-unlock-phone.html>) back in 2018.

In fact, the longer a person has been dead, the more difficult it becomes to unlock a conductivity-based fingerprint recognition system, according to the report.

The Samsung Galaxy A20 is a budget device, but still features a capacitive fingerprint authenticator on the back. It's possible Higgins' finger was simply not dead long enough to stop working.

## Scanning Digits

It's not the first recorded time a dead finger has been used to unlock a phone. In 2018, Florida police went to a morgue to [use a deceased man's finger](<https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-north-pinellas/largo/family-of-man-killed-by-largo-police-said-officers-used-dead-mans-finger-to-gain-access-to-phone>) to unlock his phone to look for evidence.

So next time you find yourself locked out of your device after losing a finger, it's best to hold on to your lost appendage. There's a chance you might still be able to get in.

**READ MORE:** [Crane horror Reg reader uses his severed finger to unlock Samsung Galaxy phone](<https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/06/samsung_galaxy/>) \[*The* *Register*\]

**More on smartphones:** *[Google Testing Feature That Scolds You For Using Smartphone While Walking](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-testing-feature-scolds-using-smartphone-walking>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)