The Face Unlock flaw was first discovered by BBC reporter Chris Fox, who demonstrated via Twitter how the Pixel 4’s facial sensor was able to unlock the phone while pretending to be asleep. As you can see in the video, it takes less than a second to execute and gives anyone who has access to Fox’s phone complete access. One possible reason behind this is probably because, unlike most facial recognition technology and hardware, Google’s Motion Sense scans your facial characteristics in its entirety, instead of requiring you to keep your eyes open and facing the camera during the recognition process.
— Chris Fox (@thisisFoxx) October 15, 2019 In a way, Google’s Face Unlock is similar to Apple’s Face ID that made its debut with the iPhone X. Unlike Google, though, Face ID still requires ensures users to have their eyes open before fully unlocking the phone. The good news is that Google is aware of the issue and has even acknowledged it. Additionally, there doesn’t seem to be a “require eyes to open” options upon the feature’s settings, which could be unsettling for future owners of the Pixel 4. That said, Google said that it promises to make improvements to the feature as time goes by.
— Chris Fox (@thisisFoxx) October 17, 2019 The Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL will be available from 24 October onwards. (Source: Chris Fox via TNW // Image: Google)
