Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Processor Always-on Camera: A Delight or Privacy Concern?

Imagine being able to unlock your phone just by looking at it. Even if your hands are full, you will be able to unlock the phone without touching it or giving a voice command or entering a password. What looks exciting to a few users could be a matter of privacy concern for others.

The Android Smartphones with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor are expected to start rolling out in early 2022. The highlight of the next-gen processor is its always-on camera that will always be looking for your face, even if you do not touch it. While this might be a user-friendly feature, it comes with privacy concerns.

Talking more about the features and how it is safe to be used, Qualcomm has said that the data collected in the phone will only be processed on the device. Which means none of the data will be sent to the cloud for processing. Qualcomm further added that the user will be able to unlock the phone just by looking into it, which replaces the need for a fingerprint sensor or face detection algorithm. The good part is that the phone will itself get locked the moment user will look away. Another interesting feature is that if the camera detects the face of the user along with somebody else’s face in the frame, it will unlock but private information will not be accessible.

The always-on front camera is a privacy issue, especially from an abuse perspective. Qualcomm has yet not revealed if it will give the option to turn off this functionality in the devices.

Another question is how much access will third-party apps get to this functionality?
It is still not clear if phone manufacturers would love to have the ISP functionality in their device or they will let pass the option. We will have to wait till 2022 to find out if the always-on camera feature is loved by makers and users or it raises more privacy concerns and challenges for Qualcomm.

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