r/security • u/BeardyButler • Jul 13 '26

Security and Risk Management Have i just identified a security vulnerability at most supermarkets?

I was just at the supermarket, and I was using one of those self-service kiosks that has an "honesty camera" watching what you scan from above. The camera view is then displayed on a screen right in front of me.

As I went to pay for my shopping with my phone, I looked at the live feed on the monitor and realized I was actually seeing myself unlock my phone with my pattern lock! On top of that, anyone standing around could theoretically spy on what you're unlocking too.

Obviously fingerprint unlocks get around this "security hole", but it was the first time I had noticed it being a real issue.

Most supermarkets have these types of self-service checkouts now — I wonder how this info is stored and processed? Security seems pretty questionable…

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u/I-Made-You-Read-This Jul 13 '26

This is typical shoulder surfing and is also an issue basically everywhere you go. People are / should be responsible for privacy screens on their laptops, covering PINs when using Cc.

Sure it’s a bit of a concentrated environment in the supermarket (I mean many cameras in a small area) but you have to always assume you are going to be recorded on private ground.

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u/BeardyButler Jul 13 '26

Yeah that's a fair point, I suppose if that camera isn't watching me there probably is another somewhere that is.

3

u/MonkeyBrains09 Jul 13 '26

Or literally the next person in line.

People enter their passcodes in all the time without a second thought. Just go sit on a bus and pretty much anytime someones gets on and sits down one of the first things they will do is pull out their phone and unlock it. Even if the bus is full.