Do you cover the camera on your phone / device?

I have a camera on my phone, It is incapable of video, I do not cover it. It does not face me. The brief times it is in a position to see my face the phone is in motion to my pocket. When it is charging it is not capable of taking a picture of anything as it is in a drawer.

Phones that can be used in such a fashion to take pictures of you are only a problem if they are not almost entirely covered aka in a pocket or bag, and you are constantly handling it. Sure they are a security risk, but they are only a security risk if you allow them to be so. Such as purchasing phones with a camera facing the user.

If you are really worried about the security of your phone, go ahead and tape over all of the cameras. However if you deem that a risk, you should probably also be worried about being tracked via GPS or Cell tower triangulation. The fix to this is to put it into airplane mode, as well as making an aluminum foil pouch that fully encloses the device, preventing it from communicating with any wireless signals.

I have a small strip of electrical tape over my screen facing phone camera... But that's really the only out of the ordinary privacy protecting step I take. I have a webcam on my PC - though I can't say why as I haven't used it in forever - but it's the type that folds closed when not in use.

As for the various smart appliances in my home? I don't really care. I'm well aware that there are devices everywhere, including probably ten or fifteen in the very room I am currently in, that quietly listen, watch, log, record and generally create data points about me all day long. However I don't find that a scary prospect really. Big Brother is insanely frightening to me if I think about being singled out and watched like a hawk. It's just that the reality is far more complicated and I'm not anybody special. I'm just one of a few billion people who are being surveilled for mostly commercial purposes. Even that has a bright side as most of the spam I get these days is at least relevant to my interests - which was not the case ten years ago.

But the phone camera? The idea of some 17 year old 4chan script kiddie watching me check my messages at 6 AM with my puffy eyes and massive bed head and that white stuff you get in the corner of your mouth when you sleep... For some reason that idea creeps me out.

a reply to: Hefficide
Probably because it is a whole lot more intimate

a reply to: MagesticEsoteric
My phone doesn't have a camera, it only makes calls and texts, coat £10.
I do have tape over the camera on my laptop.

Skynet has you.

a reply to: MagesticEsoteric

Stupid isn't it? You get about 50 smarties in a tube! Did the school think this kid was Keith Moon? Nobody eats 20/30/40 pills in one go unless they're planning an overdose. And shiny, multi-coloured pills? That principal has led a sheltered life and got their drugs education from # like Reefer Madness.

Fair enough they wanted to find stolen laptops and used the apps to get the photos. They were out of their stupid minds to even think it was their job to take 1000s of random images off laptops that weren't even missing. The bosses had a total group brain fart and have gotten off lightly with $600k in fines.

Do you cover the camera on your phone / device?

Internet security suites offer to disable cameras as standard. Ed Snowden said cover your cameras. Elon Musk says the same. Google and Facebook bosses have been photographed (ironically) with taped over cameras. They should all come with 'keyhole covers' as standard.

a reply to: MagesticEsoteric

Only when I pick my nose.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Don't trust software to disable hardware. Ever.

originally posted by: hombero
a reply to: Kandinsky

Don't trust software to disable hardware. Ever.

That wasn't my point. I was saying techies in the tech world cover their cameras. Ordinary people should too.

If you click on the right link someone can hack you!

I wish I had an app on my phone for the eves dropping listeners that automatically played the hardest driving, most obnoxious, blow out your speakers, punk rock music you've ever heard before.

Every time they log on to listen in all they hear is hard driving punk rock music. For the ones looking out for me I'm cool with that but not for the others they can go strait to L.

Do you close the curtains and shut the bathroom door? Same thing... some think of it as just a camera for photos on the user end, not a steady running webcam or triggered still from a 3rd party with an agreement with your service provider or via an app install. A single app install can give permission to clone or cloud your entire phone or basically do anything they want to with it, like websites using all the info you post or give them in any way they like.

White hatting and black hatting is hacking, when both sides of the fence do it? Why bother at all... it just means broken devices, stolen and corrupted data.

Best battery saver? Turn the junk off until you want or need to use it... you know; back like when they were corded.

An old proverb says: No news; is good news.

originally posted by: Sheye
I get a few weird looks and my nieces giggle at me, but I value my privacy and am not taking chances .

If you truly value your privacy then you would not use a smartphone, or if you had to then it would no apps on it associated with Google, Apple et al. Is it possible to get a simple Linux-like phone?

Anyway, I cover my laptop camera - especially when I am working in the nude, eh!

originally posted by: paraphi

originally posted by: Sheye
I get a few weird looks and my nieces giggle at me, but I value my privacy and am not taking chances .

If you truly value your privacy then you would not use a smartphone, or if you had to then it would no apps on it associated with Google, Apple et al. Is it possible to get a simple Linux-like phone?

Anyway, I cover my laptop camera - especially when I am working in the nude, eh!

I received my smartphone for free when signing up for a phone contract with a new service provider.

When I go to renew it they upgrade the phone to the latest one.

I’ll talk to some friends about your suggestion of a simpler Linux phone , as I’m not tech savvy at all and any good advice is well appreciated.

I just figured they were giving it to me for free , so it was a good deal.😜

Mickey Mouse Band-Aid on my laptop camera.