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Posts Tagged ‘disabling’

OnePlus is disabling the near-infrared ‘Color Filter’ camera on its 8Pro smartphone over privacy concerns

23 May

OnePlus has announced it’s working on an update for its OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone that will disable the 5MP near-infrared camera that was able to see through certain materials, including some clothing, when used with a ‘Photochrom’ mode in the native camera app.

The Color Filter camera onboard the 8 Pro has been known since the smartphone’s announcement back in April. However, not much was shared about the particular camera module at the time. It wasn’t until 8 Pro units started hitting the front doors of reviewers when it became clear what the 5MP near-infrared camera could see.

Last week in particular, a number of high-profile reviewers and pundits shared examples of just how much the Color Filter camera onboard the 8 Pro could reveal. Most notably, the below video, shared by YouTube channel Unbox Therapy, showed that beyond being able to see through the plastic IR shields built into numerous electronics, it could also see, at least to some degree, underneath certain clothing when stretched unusually thin.

Unsurprisingly, the see-through capability of the 8 Pro brought up privacy concerns, not unlike those that led to Sony recalling more than 700,000 ‘HandyCam’ camcorders back in 1998 when it was revealed the ‘Nightshot’ mode on its TRV 615 XR camcorders was revealing more than the general public was comfortable with.

OnePlus heard the response loud and clear and in an effort to get ahead of any further controversy, OnePlus announced, via Weibo, that it is temporarily disabling the Color Filter camera via a software update within the next week. In the post, OnePlus writes (machine-translated, edited with brackets for clarity):

‘When planning the [color] filter lens of OnePlus 8 Pro, we hope[d] to use this lens to perceive the characteristics of infrared light to provide users with a unique texture photography style effect. But recently, based on user feedback, we have found that under very specific environmental conditions, the filter lens may have a slight perspective effect on special materials at very close distances […] In order to eliminate the impact on user privacy under possible extreme circumstances and eliminate everyone’s concerns, we decided to temporarily disable the filter function through software upgrades.’

OnePlus doesn’t elaborate on how temporary this solution is or what the long-term fix will be, but it’s a start. It’s also unknown whether this will be a forced update or something optional users can opt out of to keep the near-infrared capabilities.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple patents system for disabling cameras in no-photography areas

01 Jul

Apple has been awarded a patent that describes a mobile camera technology that can interpret infrared signals, which could then be used to disable the camera from recording at events like concerts, among other things.

An infrared transmitter would send encoded data to the device, which would be processed by the phone. Depending on the application, the device may temporarily disable its built-in camera in locations where photography and video capture are forbidden, for example music venues, classified company areas or museums. With the system activated a ‘RECORDING DISABLED’ message would pop up on the smartphone screen when the user tries to take a photo or video. The patent even mentions the ability to add a watermark to any images or video captured when certain infrared signals are detected. 

The patent also describes use of this technology to provide additional information or visuals in a different scenario: for example, an art gallery. Pointing a smartphone camera at an IR transmitter positioned next to a painting could provide more information on the device’s screen about the artwork. The patent also mentions applications in retail environments.

There is understandably some concern about how and where such systems would be implemented. Arguably, most people would be fine with concert venues protecting the intellectual property of their acts or companies preventing industrial espionage, but there are concerns that the technology could also be used to undermine the freedom of the press. As usual, the existence of a patent does not necessarily mean we’ll ever see the final product, but in this case it might be worth at least keeping an eye on how the idea is being developed further. You can read the full patent document on the USPTO website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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