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This is the work of a library used by certain apps, not of Google (although it wouldn't surprise me if Google turned out to be doing the same, discreetly). I t
by phreack 9y ago
This is the work of a library used by certain apps, not of Google (although it wouldn't surprise me if Google turned out to be doing the same, discreetly).
I think Android should have way clearer notifications that your mic or camera are being used in the background, like iOS does, even if it may be cumbersome.
- bryanatwood 9y agoYes there should be an icon when your mic is active. I tried to build a service in Android to do this but there's no API to get whether the mic is in use or not AFAIK. I ended up disabling mic access for almost all apps, but the Google App and Google Play Services complain when you do this.
- CoolGuySteve 9y agoI'd go even further and light the notification LED the entire time something is reading the camera/mic from the firmware (such that applications can't disable it via software). The indicator works well for the webcams on most laptops.
- Grazester 9y agoNotification LED? A majority of phones(in the US) don't come with this and the ones that do need root permission to access it.
- lemuurd 9y agoyou are correct, but this was mostly brought up for historical reasons: researchers discovered an osx malware that after disabling the camera LED on older macbooks could secretly record the owner.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- rm_-rf_slash 9y agoI'd go even even further and have a physical switch on the device. I want absolute certainty that my devices are incapable of spying on me when they are switched off.
- PhantomGremlin 9y agoYeah, that's wishful thinking. Because even if there were such a switch, it would be deliberately perverted. E.g. some SD cards have a "write-protect notch" the status of which can be changed by physically moving a sliding tab. Very reminiscent of write protect on floppy disks. Here's the gotcha[1]: The presence of a notch, and the presence and position of a tab, have no effect on the SD card's operation. A host device that supports write protection should refuse to write to an SD card that is designated read-only in this way. Some host devices do not support write protection, which is an optional feature of the SD specification. Drivers and devices that do obey a read-only indication may give the user a way to override it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#Features https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#Features
- pdkl95 9y agoThe LED should be in series with e.g. the Vcc pin on the ADC. Enabling the recording hardware needs to depend on the LED being on.
- overcyn 9y agoSo it would always be on if you use OK Google?
- nine_k 9y agoThis is exactly the idea. Be aware that you're being listened to.
- jsz0 9y agoThat's a great idea. Even better if there were tiny dedicated LEDs near the front facing camera and microphone to make it 100% clear what they mean. Communication privacy laws also need to be updated for modern times. It's a federal offense to steal someone's junk mail yet widespread electronic surveillance is somehow a business model.