I’ve heard that some phones and laptops emit infrared light for face recognition, and that cameras can reveal dots or flashes that are hard to see normally. Does that mean these devices are tracking people or mapping the room?
Do laptops use infrared to track faces or map a room?
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cobalt_kite
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Some devices do use infrared for face authentication. Depending on the design, they may have an infrared camera and an illuminator, or a projector that casts a pattern to help estimate depth. That can support checking whether an enrolled user is in front of the device, but seeing infrared light alone does not show that the device is continuously tracking someone or building a map of the room.
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A bright glow or a field of dots is evidence of infrared hardware doing something, not proof of what the software is doing with it. A depth-sensing system can use a projected pattern, while other systems may simply illuminate a face so an infrared camera can see it in low light. Those are different capabilities, and the pattern by itself cannot tell you which one is active.
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Check the exact laptop or tablet model rather than assuming all of them work the same way. Look for an infrared camera, face sign-in, or depth-sensing features in the manufacturer’s specifications, then review the operating system’s camera and sign-in settings. A regular webcam can also be present without any infrared hardware at all.
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m4gpie:
So an infrared camera picking up dots would not tell me whether the device is saving that data?