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WalterBright 17 hours ago

Of course it can.

Cameras and microphones and write enable must have physical switches, not software ones. When will people learn?

Never.

Me, I unplug the camera and mike when not in use.

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schroeding 17 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Agreed. I find so much peace of mind in the microphone / webcam hardware switches of my Framework laptop.

Seeing the webcam actually vanish from the list of devices is very nice. :D

	▲	deepsun 12 hours ago \| parent [-]
		In their new upcoming webcam module for Framework they would still cut off the sensor power, but not the USB interface due to usability issues (e.g. in my experience Google Meet can detect the camera after the privacy switch turned on, but Zoom and Microsoft Teams do not) https://youtu.be/k6AsIqAmpeQ?t=1021

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lxgr 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Cameras and microphones and write enable must have physical switches, not software ones. When will people learn?

Your preferences are not everybody's. Personally, I'd be totally fine with a camera and microphone LED that is guaranteed to activate whenever there is power/signal flowing from either.

> Me, I unplug the camera and mike when not in use.

That's a bit hard to do on a laptop that has both built in.

	▲	lolinder 14 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> That's a bit hard to do on a laptop that has both built in. The Framework laptops have two tiny switches near the camera that physically turn off the mic and camera, and it presumably wouldn't be difficult for other manufacturers to follow suit if enough people cared.
	▲	WalterBright 10 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> guaranteed I used to design airplane parts and systems. A guarantee isn't worth squat. Being able to positively verify it is what works. You're right that I don't use a laptop for videoconferencing. I wouldn't use the builtin mike and camera anyway, as a 5 cent microphone can make it hard for the other party to understand you. I use a semi pro mike. If you're in business, I recommend such a setup.

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LorenDB 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Some laptops (I've seen it on a lot of Thinkpads) include a physical cover that can be slid over the webcam when you aren't using it. While that doesn't cut power to the camera or mic, I figure would pretty straightforward for manufacturers to add contacts to the camera cover to use it as a power killswitch instead of just a privacy cover.

	▲	kiwijamo 16 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I think that's pretty standard outside the Apple ecosystem. HP seem to have this on most (if not all) the laptops I've seen at $DAY_JOB which uses HP for all laptops.

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CoastalCoder 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> When will people learn?

Different persons learn this at different times (or never).

But then market dynamics come into play, as well as the current state of the legal code / enforcement.

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pessimizer 16 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> Cameras and microphones and write enable must have physical switches, not software ones. When will people learn?

I feel like people were pleading for this when people were getting ratted and began taping over their cameras, and the tiny number of laptop manufacturers just ignored what would be a cheap easy change. Eventually, people just accepted that it must be impossible to install a switch. I couldn't ever think of any motivation for a lack of a switch other than government pressure, so I've always assumed that the cameras and microphones are backdoored.

I don't get how "some tape" became the standard solution for these thousand dollar devices.

	▲	WalterBright 10 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I remember the repair book "How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive for the Complete Idiot". On some beetles the battery light would flicker dimly, though nothing seemed to be wrong. The recommended fix was to put enough tape over it to block the flicker, but not the full on. Black electrical tape was also the solution for the blinking 12:00 on consumer VCRs.