• MentalEdge
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      7 months ago

      And you know, the led shouldn’t be fucking firmware controlled!

      It’s a really good idea, but to work reliably, it should be HARDWIRED to light up when the cmos is receiving power.

  • @[email protected]
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    87 months ago

    I just use some gaffers tape to cover the camera.

    One complaint I have is a lot of laptop manufacturers who do put a camera slider in, paint the slider red when it’s closed and black when it’s open. It should be the opposite. Red is dangerous live.

    I fix it just using some enameled nail polish. But it seems opposite of what it should be

      • @[email protected]
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        47 months ago

        Right, but the ring around the sensor is plastic. That plastic could be red. To indicate that the camera is uncovered

  • @[email protected]
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    7 months ago

    The problem here is that the led was software controlled which always struck me as more of a bandaid then a solution.

    A proper hardware switch solution would mean the led and webcam are wired so if the webcam receives any power the led jumps on. The computer shouldn’t even know that led exists. Not sure how many devices actually do this though.

    The tape on cam solution works on video but might still record sound which is in many cases more dangerous for sensitive information.

    Of course one also has to wonder how much it matters having typed this on a phone with cam and microphone uncovered and no indicators.

    • @[email protected]
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      27 months ago

      I believe Framework has their webcam LED setup like this. At a minimum the physical switch cuts power to the whole webcam assembly.

      • Great Blue
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        7 months ago

        And the Framework Laptop also has a switch for the mic. So even the mic can be completely turned of on the hardware level.

    • @[email protected]
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      07 months ago

      The problem with that is a USB device is powered even if it’s not being used. You can’t communicate with it to identify it as a webcam without powering it. So the light will be on any time it’s plugged in.

      • VieuxQueb
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        07 months ago

        The camera module itself can be powered off if properly designed and the led should be powered from the same source.

        • @[email protected]
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          07 months ago

          Yeah, but that’s additional design complexity, and most consumers, given the choice, would pick the cheaper option.

          • @[email protected]
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            17 months ago

            It’s more complex and expensive to have it controlled by software though.

            Hardware controlled would be the equivalence of using a splitter to add a second lamp on an outlet attached to a light switch. (would only require a change in a trace or two and a transistor/resistor or two.)

            Software controlled is the equivalence having to buy smart outlets and programming them yourself to have the two lamps turn on at the same time. (requires the same as a hardware switch, plus a more expensive or even an extra controller chip along with the need to write and program it.)

    • @[email protected]
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      17 months ago

      Yeah, this is exactly the problem. Never should have been software controlled.

      And yes, it’s getting harder and harder to control for these privacy issues with the number of devices we routinely carry with microphones and cameras.

  • @[email protected]
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    77 months ago

    Most laptops have a physical slider that can mask the camera. But I don’t know of any tablets or phones that offer this feature.