logoalt Hacker News

bar000ntoday at 12:12 AM3 repliesview on HN

When i think about it, I would be absolutely terrified by smartphone cameras. Think laptop accessories that cover the webcam - haven't seen any of those for smartphones. Yet we trust a green dot with all our heart nowadays. Back in the day when cameras started showing up on mobile phones there were even versions of popular business feature phones that lacked the camera (Nokia E51 if i recall correctly), probably triggered by requirements of clients with strict information security standards.

It seems we all learned to stop worrying and love the cameras.


Replies

dghlsakjgtoday at 12:56 AM

Some industries still require camera-less phones, and there are companies who make them, or more interestingly, modify existing iphones!

Here's one vendor https://noncam.com/

show 1 reply
raw_anon_1111today at 4:32 AM

There are so many things that would have to go wrong for a third party app to surreptitiously activate your camera and pick up images in the background on iOS, this is tin foil hat level concern.

It’s also hilarious how many people worry about covering up their camera on the laptop not thinking that the microphone can pick up much more information in the surrounding area - again worrying about the wrong thing.

Also see, not using biometric security because in the US, police can’t legally make you give up your password - even though police are not above rubber hose decryption, judges hold people in contempt indefinitely and iPhone and Android phones are laughable insecure after first unlock after rebooting your phone.

show 2 replies
0cf8612b2e1etoday at 12:25 AM

Phone camera covers have been available for years.