Is your PC camera blocked right now?

If anyone is that bored that my ugly mug would entertain them, then go for it.

I should cover it, but I haven’t taken the trouble to do so. I guess I’m less paranoid than you are.

Yes, I have a little heart sticker covering the lens. I never use the camera on my pc.

If my iPad had a camera I would block it. I use my iPad more than anything. I don’t bother blocking my phone camera, because I rarely use it and I don’t really worry about it recording anything. We don’t bother taping over my husband’s laptop, because we very rarely use it.

I don’t think it is paranoid to block it, I think it is logical to do it.

Only the ones that work are. ;)

What would someone gain by accessing my computer’s camera? They’d get to stare at my unmade bed for much of the day. When I’m working at the computer, they get to see my fat face concentrating on what I’m doing.

How is this beneficial to anyone?

I won’t publish the link here but there are companies selling software that allows you to secretly control another person’s iPhone camera and mic. It sells for $49. A quick search will show the same capability is available for PCs.

Mac here.

LOL.

The premiere spy software (It’s killing me that I cannot remember the name) that easily infects android devices, turns on microphone, camera etc, is very difficult to get onto iPhone.

The NSA’s claim that it can penetrate iPhones with a “100% success rate” is nothing but lies intended to intimidate.”

I don’t but it’s something I’ve been meaning to do and haven’t got around to doing. I’ve heard about people spying on you this way. I never use my camera either.

@cookieman Maybe there’s nothing of interest in your camera’s field of view. Are you always fully clothed when you use the PC? Are you ever in a compromising position? Does the camera show anything of value? Does it show that you are not at home?

The new, high-tech, super wonderful Nest thermostat has an “Auto Away” feature that uses hidden acoustic, optical, and other sensors to decide if you are not at home and then adjusts the temperature accordingly. The device is also web enabled and can be read and controlled remotely. Can the wrong people read it and sell a list of empty homes on Tor?

@SecondHandStoke They have the similar software for Mac. You are not immune.
By the way, when are you going to get that tooth fixed?.
Oh, and I see you’re running low on tuna.

@cookieman Does your daughter use your computer?

I love the responses saying “I haven’t got around to it”. Either you care and have done it, or you don’t care. It’s ok to not care. But it takes about 10 seconds and a post-it note to cover the camera. It’s not something one procrastinates over.

@LuckyGuy

I didn’t claim to be immune.

But compared to the users of Android I’m as close as makes no odds.

I have equal lack of pity for both iOS and Android users that don’t have the first clue how their devices work.

@dappled_leaves – I guess I don’t care.

To borrow and slightly amend a quote from Mordecai Richler:

Coming from Texas, being a writer and Jewish as well, I have impeccable paranoia credentials.

But nah, I’m not paranoid enough to block my camera.

On second thought, now that I’ve admitted to an entire online community my camera’s not blocked, maybe I should block it. ;-)

I don’t have one.

I thought about it once so that I could keep in touch with my elderly mother via skype but discovered that, with her dementia, she was convinced that “they” were keeping tabs on her through both the computer and the tv. My sister suggested that providing proof that I could see her through the computer would just fuel her paranoia so I dropped the idea.

@rojo The new Samsung 2014 Gesture Sensitive TVs have hidden cameras that look at and monitor the viewers. There is an option that includes facial recognition that tailors the user experience to each individual’s preference. For example: the kids can only see cartoons and educational channels and play them at low volume. The adults can watch anything they want but the porn channels are only available between 11 pm and 1 am on weekends and only play at low volume. Oh and your nutty cousin from Georgia (bless her heart) will get a channel selection that consists of only Christian stations preaching the word.

Interesting capability, right? But!!!! Samsung has refused to provide an indicator that tells when the camera is on. Furthermore, they refuse to say what they do with the facial recognition data, if they are reporting the data back to Samsung, and whether Samsung will be able to monitor and record the camera view (to improve the customer experience, of course).
~Maybe Samsung’s business model will include the sale of secret amateur porn videos recording viewers “playing” in their own bedrooms.

I have tape over mine.

I also use Little Snitch to monitor network connections.

^ @johnpowell You block your camera and you’re one of the most tech savvy guys around !

LS sounds like a great idea. Is there free evaluation version?

Mine is!

@johnpowell I seac. But, Win 7 supposedly comes with similar functionality in the firewall settings. I disabled TightVNC for both inbound and outbound connections. Let’s see how long it takes before the IT guy contacts me.

Little Snitch is free for 30 days. Just a warning. If you use it you will get pissed off very fast. It takes a few days for it to learn the rules you make. But after that it isn’t that bad. It is actually the first thing I install on a new computer.

And I am a bit paranoid. I use a 5 dollar a month droplet at DigitalOcean as a VPN. All my internet traffic goes through that. At least that makes it harder for my ISP to be up in my business.

I actually have to use a VPN if I want Netflix to work properly. CenturyLink can climb a wall of dicks.

Good luck to anyone trying to use the camera on my PC, I don’t even own one.

My tablet has a built in camera but it points the other way and is covered by the case while I’m not purposefully using it to take a photograph.

I was thinking about it and I have written 3 OS X applications specifically for users here. Two needed SUDO (root privileges) to run. If I was a dick I could have totally captured their cam and mic.

@LuckyGuy: Nothing of value to see and the view of the empty bedroom would tell them I’m simply not in the bedroom. And, while I’ve never used the computer naked, that would deter anyone from ever spying on me for sure.

@jonsblond: No, she doesn’t like the jumbo screen. She sticks with her iPad mini.

I have a desktop so I just unplug my camera when it’s not in use.

Actually @dappled_leaves, as one of the people who ‘hasn’t got around to it’, if I was going to do it, I would use tape or something that is going to stay put a lot longer than a Post-It note. Furthermore, I don’t have Post-It notes or tape anywhere around me at the moment and rarely do have such things close at hand. I don’t work at a desk. So I do care to a point, but I haven’t got around to it.

My PC camera lights up when it is activated which doesn’t happen very often, only when I am on Skype with people I know.

@flutherother the problem is, malware that enables the unscrupulous to activate the camera without turning the light on…

http://scgnews.com/the-fbi-can-activate-your-webcam-without-the-light-turning-on

@downtide Thanks. Just going to put some clothes on.

@flutherother Please do.

@LuckyGuy I put an old sock over my camera lens. What did you think I meant?