Google confirms the Pixel 4's Face Unlock can allow access to users' devices even if their eyes are closed
Google has confirmed the Pixel 4 smartphone's Face Unlock system can allow access to a person's device even if they have their eyes closed. — One security expert …
Context & Ripple Effects
The Pixel 4 shipped as Google's biometrics showcase — face unlock paired with radar-powered Motion Sense gestures announced in July — but the launch has been shadowed by how the underlying face data was gathered, including reports that contractor Randstad used dubious tactics targeting people of color in facial-scan collection and that Google paid people $5 per face scan for field research. The eyes-closed confirmation lands on top of that: a convenience-first default on the device's primary security control.
First-order effects
- Pixel 4 owners get a security control with a known bypass window — anyone with physical access to a sleeping or unconscious user's phone can unlock it until Google ships a fix.
- Google commits publicly to shipping an open-eyes option 'in the coming months,' turning a hardware-biometric design decision into a software patch timeline.
Second-order effects
- Rivals' face-unlock implementations become the comparison point in reviews and buyer decisions, pressuring every vendor to state whether their default requires attention — attention detection shifts from feature to table stakes.
- The episode compounds scrutiny of Google's face-data pipeline, since the same unlock system rests on the scan-collection practices already drawing criticism.
Third-order effects
- When Google later makes open-eyes detection the default rather than an opt-in setting, it sets a precedent that biometric defaults are a responsibility of the vendor, not a user choice — raising the bar regulators and reviewers apply to consumer face authentication generally.
The trend: Consumer biometric authentication is converging on liveness/attention defaults set by vendors under public pressure, with collection practices and unlock behavior scrutinized as one continuous trust chain.