Should You Cover Your Laptop Camera When It’s Not in Use? - Consumer Reports
www.consumerreports.org
external-link
It's possible for webcams to be hacked and made to record audio and/or video without your knowledge. Here's what to do.
Chemical Wonka
link
fedilink
English
113d

If you cover your webcam and still uses facebook, instagram, tiktok and has a google account you are wasting your time

My laptop has a build in camera cover that can be slid over the camera. I wonder if this is some sort of trick, like the cover is actually transparent from the inside.

I cover mine against my own mistake - just in case I accidentally turn on (or leave on) a camera during some call.

@selkiesidhe@lemm.ee
link
fedilink
English
721d

When I saw Schmuckerberg using tape over the camera I knew we should all be doing that

Get a laptop with hardware switches for the camera and microphone, tbh

@QuazarOmega@lemy.lol
link
fedilink
English
221d

Got any examples? I found that Purism and Framework have them, are there others on the market right now?

I have a framework. I’m not aware of any others though. But I do remember that physical wifi switches were common on HPs back about 15-20 years ago.

Never seen one I’d actually trust for the mic, but I’ve seen a lot of Lenovos that have sliding covers for the camera.

I’m a little reluctant to put an adhesive slider on my MacBook because it closes pretty tight and I’m afraid the extra thickness would create a pressure point and cause damage over time.

foremanguy
link
fedilink
English
221d

It’s rare for laptop to come with hardware switches for microphones but some of them are built with camera switches

Have seen a Dell Latitude 5400 (I think) with an hardware camera cover

Em Adespoton
link
fedilink
English
922d

Unfortunately, tape can’t mute the microphones.

@sqgl@beehaw.org
link
fedilink
English
2
edit-2
21d

Article does suggest a workaround for that too. Can’t put everything into a headline.

merde alors
link
fedilink
English
521d

a microphone jack with a cut cable, if you insist

foremanguy
link
fedilink
English
421d

In our scenario we are thinking about someone trying to sneak on you. But a jack mic cut off is not removing the internal microphone just putting the source to a different one. So if this person has access to your PC he coule surely access other sensors than the cut off jack

In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.


You can subscribe to this community from any Kbin or Lemmy instance:

Learn more…


Check out our website at privacyguides.org before asking your questions here. We’ve tried answering the common questions and recommendations there!

Want to get involved? The website is open-source on GitHub, and your help would be appreciated!


This community is the “official” Privacy Guides community on Lemmy, which can be verified here. Other “Privacy Guides” communities on other Lemmy servers are not moderated by this team or associated with the website.


Moderation Rules:

  1. We prefer posting about open-source software whenever possible.
  2. This is not the place for self-promotion if you are not listed on privacyguides.org. If you want to be listed, make a suggestion on our forum first.
  3. No soliciting engagement: Don’t ask for upvotes, follows, etc.
  4. Surveys, Fundraising, and Petitions must be pre-approved by the mod team.
  5. Be civil, no violence, hate speech. Assume people here are posting in good faith.
  6. Don’t repost topics which have already been covered here.
  7. News posts must be related to privacy and security, and your post title must match the article headline exactly. Do not editorialize titles, you can post your opinions in the post body or a comment.
  8. Memes/images/video posts that could be summarized as text explanations should not be posted. Infographics and conference talks from reputable sources are acceptable.
  9. No help vampires: This is not a tech support subreddit, don’t abuse our community’s willingness to help. Questions related to privacy, security or privacy/security related software and their configurations are acceptable.
  10. No misinformation: Extraordinary claims must be matched with evidence.
  11. Do not post about VPNs or cryptocurrencies which are not listed on privacyguides.org. See Rule 2 for info on adding new recommendations to the website.
  12. General guides or software lists are not permitted. Original sources and research about specific topics are allowed as long as they are high quality and factual. We are not providing a platform for poorly-vetted, out-of-date or conflicting recommendations.

Additional Resources:

  • 1 user online
  • 1 user / day
  • 1 user / week
  • 55 users / month
  • 625 users / 6 months
  • 1 subscriber
  • 784 Posts
  • 11.8K Comments
  • Modlog