In a new study published in Science Advances, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have revealed how hackers can turn your smartphone into a spying device. Light sensors, used to adjust screen brightness, are capable of covertly capturing user interactions thanks to a newly developed computational imaging algorithm. By combining the smartphone display screen with the ambient light sense the researchers realized that capturing images in front of that screen was possible without using the device camera. Apps can use ambient light sensors without the need to ask permission from the user. The lack of permission control is not exactly surprising, given that such sensors have not been considered a privacy or security risk.

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2024/01/19/could-this-crazy-new-smartphone-hack-turn-2024-into-1984/?sh=697e05e734f4