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WalterBright 7 months 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 7 months 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 7 months 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 7 months 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.

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lolinder 7 months 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.

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WalterBright 7 months 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.

	▲	lxgr 7 months ago \| parent [-]
		I meant "guaranteed" in the sense of "ensured by design", not in the sense of somebody making a promise. Besides that: > Being able to positively verify it is what works. How do you positively verify that a device only contains the microphones you're aware of?

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tzs 7 months ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Heavy camera and mic users might want to be careful with the unplug when not in use approach, in case either the camera/mic and/or the computer/hub the camera/mic connects to has a connector that is only good for the minimum number of mating cycles required by the USB spec.

For type A connectors that is only 1500 cycles. Mini USB connectors raise that 5000 cycles. Micro USB and USB-C raise it to 10000.

For a type A just plugging and unplugging twice a day every workday would reach 1500 cycles in a little over 3 years.

What I do now for things that I'm going to plug/unplug a lot where the thing is expensive enough that I don't want to risk the connector wearing out before I'm ready to replace the thing is use a short extension cable or an inexpensive hub. The extension cable or hub can be relatively permanently connected and the thing that is frequently plugged/unplugged connects to that.

	▲	anticensor 7 months ago \| parent \| next [-]
		For everything except Micro-B, an average connector lasts far more than those minimum rates (not possible in Micro-B, as Micro-B has the socket as the wear item rather than the plug).
	▲	ycombinatrix 7 months ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I have a hub with a power switch & indicator LED for each port. No unplugging needed.

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LorenDB 7 months 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 7 months 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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pessimizer 7 months ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> 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 7 months 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.

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CoastalCoder 7 months ago | parent | prev [-]

> 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.