With the inclusion of Biometrics to the IPHONE 5, as seen in this article, http://secureidnews.com/news-item/analysis-biometrics-and-the-iphone/, there are many pros and cons that will affect how to be hipaa compliant.
Awesome that you can use your own identification to open you mobile device but it also comes with organizations and individuals who think this is not such a great thing.
For many years putting sensitive information on your mobile device was a no no, it can be stolen and access easily gained. That is evident in the rules the Government puts forward like the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA. A HIPAA Risk assessment requires you to encrypt and safeguard data at rest and in motion, and focus a lot on mobile devices. So you would think this type of encryption and access would be welcome, well it is in and it isn’t.
People feel that big brother is at play and that Apple will share all of the fingerprints with the Government, and other feel that there proven hacking ways to trick the finger scanner to gain access. All maybe true but most likely not, the best solution to security is a combination biometric with password. Not one or the other.
In My Humble Opinion, great start, still needs more tweaking till a security officer or organization can hang their hat on this idea and feel confident the will pass a HIPAA risk Analysis.