4 ms·

"My phone's camera is damaged and makes noise upon activation..."

41 points by rahuldottech 7y ago

olliej 7y ago
Oof the comments in that thread are certainly something...
- fargle 7y ago
  Best comment ever: "I am way too high for this shit man.." - newly extra super paranoid hipster, yelling at the sky (via reddit)
scotty79 7y ago
How could you check if camera is working at the moment? Let's asssume you don't want to throw you phone into sand in hopes of getting some audible clues. Also let's assume you don't want to upload custom ROM to your phone, unless it's super easy.
- Jamwinner 7y ago
  Its pretty easy. Most of the tools are as easy to install as any other software. The biggest hurdle is locating the correct set of tools for your device, but forums are helpful if you are patient. The bigger issue is that you now have a new attack surface to worry bout. No free lunch.
- fittslickare 7y ago
  Even if you flash your phone with a custom ROM you can not be really sure. The camera might be activated by some weird chip nobody even knows exists. I think the sand method is the only way to be sure and it is also a nice reason to go to the beach with way too many cold beers.
- bumbacloth 7y ago
  On android maybe you can use the android.hardware.camera2 package, it has a CameraDevice.StateCallback , with that you can receive updates about the state of the camera. Maybe someone can write a small app to get notifications when the state of the camera changes?
janandonly 7y ago
There is a reason why security experts recommend to everyone to never permit any app access to your camera on iOS. This is probably also the reason why I never would recommend anyone to use android, ever.
- vinay427 7y ago
  The permissions on my Android device (Samsung, it may be different for AOSP) are wonderful. I even get notifications if an app uses unusual permissions in the background, and can easily view permissions by app and apps by permission.
fittslickare 7y ago
This is why you should tape it, just like on your laptop.
ksaj 7y ago
Of course a less paranoid way of looking at this is to consider that the operating system might be polling its various devices and sensors in some sort of maintenance routine. Perhaps it is doing the equivalent of drive head parking, or checking for faults.

41 points by rahuldottech 7y ago

olliej 7y ago

Oof the comments in that thread are certainly something...

fargle 7y ago
Best comment ever: "I am way too high for this shit man.." - newly extra super paranoid hipster, yelling at the sky (via reddit)

scotty79 7y ago

How could you check if camera is working at the moment? Let's asssume you don't want to throw you phone into sand in hopes of getting some audible clues. Also let's assume you don't want to upload custom ROM to your phone, unless it's super easy.

Jamwinner 7y ago
Its pretty easy. Most of the tools are as easy to install as any other software. The biggest hurdle is locating the correct set of tools for your device, but forums are helpful if you are patient. The bigger issue is that you now have a new attack surface to worry bout. No free lunch.
fittslickare 7y ago
Even if you flash your phone with a custom ROM you can not be really sure. The camera might be activated by some weird chip nobody even knows exists. I think the sand method is the only way to be sure and it is also a nice reason to go to the beach with way too many cold beers.
bumbacloth 7y ago
On android maybe you can use the android.hardware.camera2 package, it has a CameraDevice.StateCallback , with that you can receive updates about the state of the camera. Maybe someone can write a small app to get notifications when the state of the camera changes?

janandonly 7y ago

There is a reason why security experts recommend to everyone to never permit any app access to your camera on iOS. This is probably also the reason why I never would recommend anyone to use android, ever.

vinay427 7y ago
The permissions on my Android device (Samsung, it may be different for AOSP) are wonderful. I even get notifications if an app uses unusual permissions in the background, and can easily view permissions by app and apps by permission.

fittslickare 7y ago

This is why you should tape it, just like on your laptop.

ksaj 7y ago

Of course a less paranoid way of looking at this is to consider that the operating system might be polling its various devices and sensors in some sort of maintenance routine. Perhaps it is doing the equivalent of drive head parking, or checking for faults.