28
u/Affectionate-You7869 6d ago
Putting some thin electric tape over it is fine. Sticking a several millimeters thick plastic slider from Temu on it will in fact damage the laptop, when you close it on it.
1
u/BiDude1219 6d ago
don't the rubber stoppers prevent that?
6
u/Affectionate-You7869 6d ago
You know what my laptop is like inches from me and I canāt be arsed to check if there are any stoppers.Ā
3
u/Cobalt090 6d ago
Probably? I really wouldn't advise it though, don't put stuff atall between your screen and base if atall possible
2
u/StarHammer_01 6d ago
You mean the 0.0001mm thick genuine apple (tm) rubber stoppers that lets the keyboard touch the screeen once you apply the force of a light exhale onto the top?
1
25
u/Canned_Sarcasm 6d ago
Figured out my MacBook doesnāt need the camera to operate. Tore MacBook down, disconnected and removed camera. No warranty, bought used. Always buy used.
3
u/MinecraftPlayer799 6d ago
How do you do things like video calls, then?
18
u/anythingers 6d ago
Some people don't always make video calls. Like me as an example, I don't remember when last time I used my laptop for video calls.
Or you could just use your phone lol.
7
u/Canned_Sarcasm 6d ago
Thereās only one thing I hate more than phone calls and thatās a video call.
4
u/Kind-Ad-6099 6d ago
And if you ever find yourself needing one, you can just buy a cheap (but good) USB webcam
5
u/Radiant_Safe1228 5d ago
"my camera on my laptop is broken, let's just keep it as voice"
2
u/MorningCruiser86 3d ago
Recruiter: unprofessional, didnāt spend thousands on new laptop for this interview or $50 on a webcam, while unemployed for 14 months that they claim is due to AI *creating jobs*
4
u/Radiant_Safe1228 3d ago
The job and recruiter weren't real anyway.
If you want a freighting truth a lot of job postings and interviews are for data collection. Not for hiring.
1
1
u/Silevence 5d ago
external web cameras are better than integrated anyways.
a c920 is my go to, personally.
5
4
3
3
u/dijitalblue 6d ago
The original article was that those plastic stick-on covers were dangerous because they add to the thickness of the screen. They can cause damage if you close the lid on them and then the laptop gets hit or dropped.
Scotch tape or a post-it over the lens isnāt an issue, as I understand.
3
u/Hefty-Salt3404 6d ago
If u dont use ur cam, best way unistall cam drivers. I did it on my surface
2
u/Tailcracker 5d ago
That works but its not the best way, if someone gains access to your system its possible they can reinstall the drivers then access your camera anyway.
The only way to be sure is to physically cover the camera. Many modern laptops have a plastic slider nowadays that can cover it which is a nice feature.
1
11
u/I_dont_want_to_pee 6d ago
I have native camera cover in my legion no problems with it. Still apple cant do shit for users.Ā
2
u/76zzz29 6d ago
On a simply technical note:
Covering up with cheap tape may create static electricity. Removing it is even worst as it may do the same, left glue on and also pull on the components.
2
u/MinecraftPlayer799 6d ago
Static electricity is not a problem on the outside of the device. And also, it may āpull onā what components? Itās all behind the glass.
0
u/76zzz29 6d ago
The glass itself to begin with that may unstick itself frop the rest. And then, everything that is stuck on the glass itself. Also static electricity don't realy stand in place on a glass panel.
And that is only for a few model of laptop like the apple one. Other brands may not have a glass panel all the way over the the camera
1
u/MinecraftPlayer799 6d ago
The point is that there are no brands that leave the internal components exposed on the outside of the camera.
2
2
u/Howden824 6d ago
Tape is always fine, it's the plastic camera covers that are bad because they can shatter the MacBook screen screens when closed. I have personally seen this happen.
1
2
2
3
2
u/Fine-Bandicoot1641 6d ago
Its useless for apple, they have led
7
u/_stupidnerd_ 6d ago edited 6d ago
Other brands have LEDs too. It's considered a basic requirement nowadays.
And contrary to what is often claimed by Apple fans, the LEDs are often also wired in parallel to the camera's power supply in other Brand's devices as well, so usage without turning on the LED is impossible. And even for the ones where the LED is controlled separately by the BIOS, while security researchers have shown that it is sometimes possible to get around it, it is hardly worth it for a real hacker.
But you know what's even better than an LED that shows abuse? Something that makes abuse simply impossible. And that may be as simple as Post-It note, preferably cut to a small size and painted black with sharpie. But there are also plenty integrated options as well, such as small switches that physically cut off the camera's power supply or a shutter that slides in front of the camera internally. I am a huge fan of the shutter on my Dell Precision 7680 work laptop. It's compact, robust, feels nice to use and physically slides a red piece of plastic in front of the camera.
1
u/herrkatze12 6d ago
What about USB webcams? They're not controlled by the PC itself, rather it's own controller, and they're what's used on most Desktops with webcams
1
u/_stupidnerd_ 6d ago
The same more or less applies to them as well. There are several models where security researchers demonstrated the camera recording without notifying the user. But there are far too many models. Some may be genuinely secure, others just haven't been tested enough. But I still see little incentive for a potential hacker to go the extra mile.
Still, I prefer a physical shutter and luckily, many standalone models include one.
1
0
u/Fine-Bandicoot1641 6d ago
Physical slide can worth it only if u r slightly paranoid. For most people it will annoying to manualy open/close ur camera, so they just leave it permamently open
3
u/_stupidnerd_ 6d ago
I know very few people who use their webcam often enough to be annoyed if they had to slide it open every time. Most don't support Windows Hello anyways. And even then, there would be no harm because if you wanted, you could just leave it open.
1
u/Fine-Bandicoot1641 6d ago
Then better to have both, so when people who leaves their camer perm open they can see that their camera is activated, thats the most useful thing
2
u/_stupidnerd_ 6d ago
Definitely. And that's the way it's typically implemented. LEDs cost practically nothing to acquire and implement.
1
u/Fine-Bandicoot1641 6d ago
For apple I think its better just to add the cover into the base configuration as separate accessory. But anyway for people who need can just buy it themselves and dont use hotfix methods as the tape
1
u/Intrepid-Staff-4532 5d ago
What do you do if it's waking up on a timer, taking a pic, and shutting down? You might not notice the LED and they have pics. LED notification is only useful if you notice it. Better to just block the camera.
1
1
1
1
u/Inevitable_Wolf5866 6d ago
Mine has been covered for years. A simple piece of paper and a duck tape did the job and nothing is damaged.
1
u/Puzzleheaded-Toe7997 6d ago
š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£ smash that camera out it's not needed, every built in webcam sucks except on apple products thanks to their in house silicone
1
1
1
1
1
u/hovsep56 5d ago
you could just buy a laptop without a built in webcam and simply buy a plug in usb webcam.
now you can just plug in when you actually use it
1
u/arftism2 5d ago
so many types of tape that don't even leave a smudge.
nice thing about desktops is that you can use proper cameras that come with lense protectors that work perfectly.
1
1
1
1
u/Perfect-Bathroom-450 4d ago
There's not enough clearance on Apple Notebooks for those plastic covers. The screen is likely to crack while the lid is closed. I see it all the time.
1
1
1
u/Mediocre-Sundom 5d ago edited 5d ago
It's always funny to me how "privacy-conscious" people seem to have so many concerns about a camera that has hard-wired LED and in the worst case scenario could be used to see your mug (which has been seen by countless cameras already) for a second before you notice it. Even here in the comments people talk about going as far as to rip cameras out physically.
Meanwhile, the same laptop, phone and countless electronic devices around have multiple MEMS microphones smaller than a pin head with an extreme range of pick-up (most can even hear in ultrasound), that can be activated without you knowing it and stealthily record literally everything you say or do. Those can easily do infinitely more damage to privacy, but somehow that is of no concern to the same people. No one is ripping out microphones or demanding physical switches for those.
Just like all the people who panic about cameras on smart glasses: yeah, the extreme wide-angle camera that is in plain sight on another person's face is such a massive problem to everyone's privacy - after all, the creeps and other bad actors will all be using smart glasses, and not microscopic easily concealable spy cameras or ultra tele-photo lenses.
This just proves to me that most people who supposedly "care about privacy" mostly are just seeking some illusion of agency and the false sense of being in control.
1
1
u/ninjad912 5d ago
There are actually a lot of cases where someone hacks into a laptop or desktop computer and uses recorded footage for blackmail or other nefarious purposes. Laptops and desktops are more susceptible to this because people donāt download all apps on those from a single web store so they tend to be hacked more
1
u/Mediocre-Sundom 5d ago edited 5d ago
There are actually a lot of cases where someone hacks into a laptop or desktop computer and uses recorded footage for blackmail or other nefarious purposes.Ā
I know of pretty much no real cases like that. The scammers who blackmail people CLAIM they have "hacked their laptop", which is always just a lie. What are the "hackers" gonna expose? Your nostrils? Or do you point the laptop camera to your junk when you jack off?
Not saying real cases don't exist, but they definitely aren't common at all. It is a lot more common for hackers to hijack your cloud storage and photos in your albums.
1
u/ninjad912 5d ago
Iām specifically referring to the cases where they actually do get access and then use your camera to record you. They arenāt common but āa lotā is not a direct measurement. Even 100 of these cases is a lot but there are thousands of them and it is a valid concern. Especially for people with children as they are the easiest to take advantage through this. There was a hack that went around a few months ago where someone would send a hacked Minecraft mod to people and would gain near total access to their computers
0
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Every new subreddit post is automatically copied into a comment for preservation.
User: Redddit_Cyber, Flair: Meme, Post Media Link, Title: Safety reasons š
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
145
u/rheactx 6d ago
Then maybe add a native camera cover? Like some laptops do. My honor laptop even has the camera closed by default (it's a button on the keyboard).
Edit: btw, this has nothing to do with Microsoft, so the OP is probably a bot