The Pixel 4's face unlock system works even if your eyes are closed

Like Apple's newest iPhones, Google's new Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL phones will rely solely on Face Unlock facial recognition technology as a biometric authentication method. The new phones don't have fingerprint sensors.

However, it has just been discovered that the new Pixels' facial unlock system works even if your eyes are closed.

Here's proof:

[embed]https://twitter.com/thisisFoxx/status/1184160620209463296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E11841606202094632[/embed]

This has also been confirmed by Google's support page:

Google recommends that you keep the phone in a safe place while you sleep, which probably means Pixel 4 owners might want to invest in a standalone alarm clock.

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iPhones' Face ID system doesn't work in this way. By default, it requires the user's eyes to look at the phone before it can be unlocked. However, Apple gives users the options to disable this so that users can unlock their iPhones even if they are not looking at them.

For Google, such options are currently unavailable on the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL. Fortunately, a leaked photo suggests that Google might be looking into this right now.

This is a big security problem because apart from snooping partners, naughty children, and nosey friends, authorities can easily gain access to your phone simply by holding it up to the user's face.

One can only hope that Google releases a fix for this.

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.