Nothing puts CMF Phone 1 depth sensor to bed over perving fears

Nothing will close-off independent access to the CMF Phone 1‘s depth sensing camera, after a user found it could be used to see through bedsheets.

The budget phone’s secondary camera isn’t accessible through the main camera app as it is only designed for sensing depth to aid portrait photography.

However, one intereped user – the YouTuber Maxwell Lu – discovered that when using a third-party camera app in developer mode, he could access the sensor.

Rather than just showing a simple monochromatic image on screen, the user found was able to see through the thin plastic of a TV remote and, more concerningly, a bed sheet. Albeit, the user showed text on a surface through a bedsheet, rather than human flesh.

Naturally, that raised a few privacy fears, which were addressed over the weekend by Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis who said the loophole would be closed within a a week.

In a tweet, he wrote: “Unlike typical cameras, our depth sensor doesn’t have an infrared light filter, enhancing its light-capturing ability. By definition, this includes infrared light, which can sometimes reveal the internal structure of thin or semi-transparent objects, especially when it’s black acrylic material.

“While users can’t access the depth sensor output via the Nothing camera app, we understand that this could raise some concerns. As a result, we will restrict third-party apps from accessing the depth sensor output through a software update expected within a week.”

It’s not clear whether the software update has rolled out yet, but we’ll check in with our reviewer who might be able to independently verify.

Evangelidis reckons people have it out for Nothing too. Gizmodo noticed he’d said “people are trying to come as us from every angle” because “they aren’t comfortable with our success.”