I mean, someone will do for every model. That would be enough to ensure security. If manufacturer faked it, and one in a thousand customers found it, then it will be a news or a lawsuit
Unless you have a framework, and can remove the bezel and confirm that they work!
I’m really happy with my new framework’s switches, I actually trust them for once! I went to find a thing on how they work to post here:
"(They) saw the mention of the switches and that they are optical somewhere, but can’t remember to quote the source.
As far as I can tell each switch is a U channel with a light emitter on one side, and a detector on the other. The part you move on the bezel just breaks the light beam. This creates a electronic on/off hardware switch.
Using an actual physical switch would tend to be a source of an intermittent connection over time. Hence the use of optical technology. Same thought process for the screen open switch being a Hall Effect sensor, which can work through a cover."
Sure beats literally no protection which is what most laptops have. I have a switch and sometimes forget it’s off and my webcam/mic definitely don’t work, on any OS.
I’d like a proper hardware light. Something physical such that the camera cannot send the image back to the board without the light being on. And yes, a physical cutout switch would definitely be nice.
Either buy a sticker cover with a slider or get lenovo laptops that have that builtin; even though the slider is confusionary since when it’s closed it’s a red dot. Im sure that there must be other brands that integrate it as well
I am joking of course. I am a privacy freak myself:
All my computers run Linux
I self-host all what I can and encrypt as much as I can by myself too
On desktop, Mic and Cam are connected to a USB hub with individual switches such that they are powered ON only when I need them
Laptop is a Framework 13 with HW switches for both Cam and Mic
There is something about the webcam switch on the Lenovo from work, that I like better than the Framework: The switch also physically blocks the camera. It makes me feel more safe and it’s actually much more intuitive to understand when it is disable. On Framework, the switch shows either red or black, but I never know what is enable and disable. Is it red for “Careful, it’s active !” or red for “Disable” ? (It’s Red=Disable, Black=Active).
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You still have to trust the manufacturer that it really turns the webcam off, not just the webcam light.
It probably can be inspected
Yes, but most won’t.
I mean, someone will do for every model. That would be enough to ensure security. If manufacturer faked it, and one in a thousand customers found it, then it will be a news or a lawsuit
Unless you have a framework, and can remove the bezel and confirm that they work!
I’m really happy with my new framework’s switches, I actually trust them for once! I went to find a thing on how they work to post here:
"(They) saw the mention of the switches and that they are optical somewhere, but can’t remember to quote the source.
As far as I can tell each switch is a U channel with a light emitter on one side, and a detector on the other. The part you move on the bezel just breaks the light beam. This creates a electronic on/off hardware switch.
Using an actual physical switch would tend to be a source of an intermittent connection over time. Hence the use of optical technology. Same thought process for the screen open switch being a Hall Effect sensor, which can work through a cover."
Open-source hardware to the rescue! So you CAN verify it.
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99.999% will not take it apart and verify. They will just “nice, a physical switch”. There is a lot of trust involved.
Sure beats literally no protection which is what most laptops have. I have a switch and sometimes forget it’s off and my webcam/mic definitely don’t work, on any OS.
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I have never seen a review opening a laptop to check if the hardware switch is really that. Please, link to a reviewsite that does that
I’d like a proper hardware light. Something physical such that the camera cannot send the image back to the board without the light being on. And yes, a physical cutout switch would definitely be nice.
Either buy a sticker cover with a slider or get lenovo laptops that have that builtin; even though the slider is confusionary since when it’s closed it’s a red dot. Im sure that there must be other brands that integrate it as well
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Hackers won’t have much to blackmail me, I fap completely silently.
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I am joking of course. I am a privacy freak myself:
There is something about the webcam switch on the Lenovo from work, that I like better than the Framework: The switch also physically blocks the camera. It makes me feel more safe and it’s actually much more intuitive to understand when it is disable. On Framework, the switch shows either red or black, but I never know what is enable and disable. Is it red for “Careful, it’s active !” or red for “Disable” ? (It’s Red=Disable, Black=Active).
That’s how my Dell work machine is. The switch slides some red plastic over the lens.