i think its cool why dont everyone do the same i think it should be a trend everybuddy shall do the same am i paranoid? am i crazy? how do you guys even trust privacy settings?

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[–] 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Love the idea! It's a nice reminder to the casual onlooker that, yes, the average person does constantly point a camera at themselves and it can be exploited. It can even be a conversation starter with anyone bothering to ask.

That said, yes, I have a fair amount of trust that the cameras built into my devices are not constantly recording and phoning home. Not due to "privacy settings" though, which are often little more than privacy theatre. The devices in my household all run on GrapheneOS and Linux, and I monitor my network for unwanted traffic. I also do not run any software inherently hostile to privacy (e.g. anything by Meta or Microsoft), unless properly sandboxed and cut off from the internet. There's a (very) German saying that goes: "Vertrauen ist gut, Kontrolle ist besser" - Trust is good, but control is better.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 weeks ago

    I trust privacy settings because I trust GrapheneOS to do what says on the tin.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago

    I'd rather disconnect the microphones. There's much more information in my speech than on my face and surroundings.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 weeks ago

    On my laptop I have a physical cover, but on my pixel 6 running graphene os the cam is built into the screen so its hard to cover without the screen being covered. I just use the off switch in Graphene for it and the mic.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

    I don't trust the camera to be 100% foolproof so I also stick something on the front of my laptop camera. For my phone I 3d printed a clip that snaps on and fits on top of my case.

    Something like this but for my case.

    https://makerworld.com/en/models/990796-iphone-front-camera-cover-certain-cases

    Googly eye design on top would be funny.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Not to be pedantic, but your phone has a built in microphone. Covering your phone camera is like locking your front door but leaving the back door unlocked :)

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

    Christopher Walken would be proud

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    Phone is graphene so I'm OK with uncovered camera Laptops have the camera disabled in the BIOS and rely on USB camera if I need it I can plug in

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    My primary laptop has a physical slider that slips an opaque cover over the integrated camera. It's so subtle that I didn't notice it until I'd owned the laptop for at least a year.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (1 child)

    Graphene os on phone and laptops withbdisconext switches or covers for cameras.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    googly eyes are triggering for some people because it brings up ancient genetic memories of predators' eyes

    it's okay for people to prefer a solid color (eye-less) webcam cover

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