Pixel 8 Pro's Face Unlock might not be as secure as you think

Facial recognition on our smartphones aren't new. We've seen it introduced many years ago, although it was not as robust compared to what is available now. In fact, with the new Pixel 8 Pro smartphones, Google introduced an upgraded facial recognition system (Face Unlock) that they claim meets Android's Class 3 requirements.

This means that it is secure enough where it can be used for payment authentications and logging into apps, something that wasn't available on the Pixel 7. But it turns out that maybe it still isn't quite as secure as we would have liked.

This is because according to a post on Reddit, they are claiming that their Pixel 8 Pro was unlocked using Face Unlock by their brother. In Google's defense, facial recognition systems aren't 100% foolproof. Even Apple's Face ID which uses infrared scanning technology was found to be vulnerable in some rare instances.

The poster does note that they share similar facial features as their brother, but even then as long as they aren't identical twins, it shouldn't have been unlocked anyway. That being said, this is the first we're hearing about the Face Unlock feature being bypassed this way. We're not sure if this is an isolated issue or if others have experienced something similar.

Either way, if you're concerned about this, then maybe you could stick to fingerprint unlocking or using a PIN code on your phone instead.