The new capabilities of Qualcomm's always-on smartphone camera were presented with many euphoric statements from the company.
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However, for many users who are concerned that modern technology is being used to violate privacy, a camera on a mobile phone that records everything even when we are not using it sounds like a nightmare and comes at a cost to privacy.
Qualcomm's main goal with this feature is to unlock your phone every time you look at it, even if it's just sitting on a table or propped up on a stand. You don't have to pick it up or touch the screen or give it a voice command. It just unlocks when it sees your face. This is definitely useful when your hands are busy doing something or you're driving.
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Qualcomm likens the always-on camera to the always-on microphones that have been in phones for years. These are used to listen for voice commands like “Hey Siri” or “Hey Google” and then wake the phone up, all without you having to touch or pick up the phone. But the difference is that they listen for specific wake words and are often limited in what they can do until you actually pick up your phone and unlock it.
It’s true that smart home products already have such features. Google’s Nest Hub Max uses its camera to recognize your face when you approach it and greet you with personal information, like your calendar. Home security cameras and smart doorbells are constantly on, looking for activity or even specific faces. But these devices are in your home, you don’t always have them with you wherever you go, and they generally don’t have your most personal information stored on them, like your phone.
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Even if you trust a reputable company like Qualcomm, there's a certain level of comfort we feel with an always-on camera on our most personal device, recording everything we do and everywhere we go.
Maybe soon we'll start putting film in our smartphone cameras, like we already do with the cameras on our laptops!
