Samsung readies anti-shoulder surf privacy feature

Samsung Electronics Australia plans to roll out a new privacy feature for Galaxy phone users that reduces the risk of "shoulder surfing" in public places.

The company said the feature adds a "new layer of privacy" aimed at situations such as commuting and other crowded environments where users may view messages, notifications, or enter passwords with people nearby.

Samsung said it designed the feature for users who want more control over what other people can see on-screen. The company positioned the feature as configurable and optional, rather than a single setting applied across the device.

Visibility Controls

Samsung said users will be able to customise the protection by app. It also said users will be able to apply the protection when entering access details for more private areas of a phone.

The company said the feature will include multiple settings that adjust visibility. It said users can "limit what others can see" depending on the privacy setting selected.

Samsung also pointed to notification pop-ups as one area that users can choose to protect. The company said users will be able to fine-tune the feature or switch it off entirely.

Five-Year Build

Samsung said it spent more than five years on engineering, testing and refinement. It said the work included studies of phone usage and how people define private information in daily life.

Samsung described the result as "a fusion of hardware and software". It did not provide model names, availability by country, or a specific release timeline beyond "very soon".

The company also did not disclose whether the feature will arrive through a software update, launch alongside new devices, or require specific hardware. It also did not detail which apps or parts of the operating system will support the feature at launch.

Knox Context

Samsung linked the upcoming feature with its wider security approach on Galaxy devices. It referenced Samsung Knox, which it described as providing multiple layers of protection for Galaxy devices.

Samsung cited Knox Vault and Knox Matrix as examples of security measures in its ecosystem. It noted that Knox Vault availability can vary by model and referenced Galaxy S, Galaxy A and Galaxy Tab devices as examples of product families where availability may differ. It also said Knox Matrix support depends on One UI 6.0 or above and can vary by country or region.

Samsung said the new privacy feature "introduc[es] privacy at a pixel level". The company did not provide technical details on how that works in practice.

"This is privacy you can see and security you can feel - and it's coming to Galaxy very soon," said Samsung.

Samsung said it will share more information when it unveils the feature.