Unsettling study by Samsung reveals exactly how often strangers look at your phone screen
We've all been there, desperate to have a nosey at what people around you are looking at on their phones.
Well, a new survey by Samsung has uncovered the unsettling reality of just how often strangers are looking at your phone screen.
In the study, participants answered questions about how often they peer at another person’s device, with a shocking amount admitting to doing so recently.
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A staggering 56% to be exact. Meanwhile, 24% of people said they looked at a stranger’s phone screen ‘out of curiosity’.
So, where are people most likely to take a peek at your screen? It turns out the biggest crime scene is public transport with 57% of people saying this is where screens are most likely to be visible.
However, despite these figures, a surprising 48% of people believe that their own phone screen is private.
But fear not because it appears Samsung has a solution to the problem with its new Samsung Galaxy S26 Privacy Display feature that restricts the ‘screen’s visibility from side viewing angles to protect privacy in any environment’.
According to the tech giant, this feature is a new kind of personal protection that is built into the device and enables the user to adjust the visibility of content on their screen.
Fabrizio Camardella, who is the Division Head Mobile at Samsung Switzerland, said: “A smartphone is one of the most personal things you own. It contains photos, bank details, messages, and much more. I often use public transport, and the last thing I want is for the person next to me to see what’s happening on my screen. That’s why we integrated the Privacy Display into the Galaxy S26 Ultra, so that what’s visible on your screen stays private.”
The feature is a new tool that users can implement to tighten up their security measures and users can activate the Privacy Display feature in their settings.
So, how does it work? The feature is integrated directly into the display hardware where it controls how the screen’s pixels disperse light, ‘limiting the visibility from side angles when turned on, while preserving the full display experience from any direction when it’s off’.
According to Samsung, this hardware-first approach delivers a clearer and more consistent experience than a traditional privacy screen protector which permanently reduces brightness and clarity and can degrade touch responsiveness.
The tool is also customizable, meaning that the user is able to decide when the feature is switched on, such as when you are entering sensitive password information, and it can even limit the phone screen’s visibility for specific types of content including the likes of popup notifications.