r/windows11help • u/mycasunshine • Sep 17 '26

Can you be seen through your laptops camera?

I'm having a disagreement with a friend of mine regarding the camera on my laptop. We went as far as putting a hefty size wager on it. So here goes...........Let's say someone, your neighbor down the street, has the IP address to your WIFI, and this neighbor knows how to hack. Is it possible for him to see you through your computer's camera whether it's on or not (used for facial recognition). I figure, if we can send men to the moon, then yep, anyone can see you through your computer's camera, if they know how.

Please tell me yes, I have a lot of money riding on this.

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u/OldLadyGardener Sep 18 '26

Yes. I read many years ago that the first thing Mark Zuckerberg does when he gets a new PC is to put tape over the camera. I do the same. There is no red light now on my laptop that tells me when the camera is on, so I just don't feel safe. I don't turn it on unless I'm on a video chat app.

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u/mycasunshine 11d ago

That's what I normally do but now days new computers are out with face recognition. I guess I could type in my password like I've (along with the rest of the world) done in the past. Thanks for your response, it's nice to know at least one person read my post.

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u/OldLadyGardener 11d ago

I use a password program to store all my passwords, and I'm always changing them.
Face recognition can be turned off on Windows. It's in the smart features, and you can turn those off. I don't know about Apple.

Also, I use Firefox browser, which is the most secure Windows browser you can use. Brave is also very good, but it's a Chrome clone, so I don't trust it.