Privacy

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Is it unnecessary to cover one's webcam on Linux? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 8 months ago by Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

54 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Cross-posted to: https://sh.itjust.works/post/15859195

From other conversations that I've read through, people usually say "Yes, because it's easy on Windows", or "Yes, because they simply don't trust the webcam". But neither of these arguments are enough for me. The former I feel is irrelevent when one is talking about Linux, and the latter is just doing something for the sake of doing it which is not exactly a rational argument.

Specifically for Linux (although, I suppose this partially also depends on the distro, and, of course, vulnerabilites in whatever software that you might be using), how vulnerable is the device to having its webcam exploited? If you trust the software that you have running on your computer, and you utilize firewalls (application layer, network layer, etc.), you should be resistant to such types of exploits, no? A parallel question would also be: How vulnerable is a Linux device if you don't take extra precautions like firewalls.

If this is the case, what makes Windows so much more vulnerable?

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[–] zephiriz@lemmy.ml -1 points 8 months ago (4 children)

I never really understood the obsession to cover cameras. While yes you don't want someone to hack it and yes I do cover mine. What are they going to do? Watch you fap? I really don't care. I personally am much more concerned with the mic. I would hate for someone to record me saying something well not so pleasant. You can use your imagination. I rarely see people mention the mic. I see it mentioned a few times here but not much. I much rather have a kill switch for my mic.

[–] stembolts@programming.dev 7 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Cool, then respond to this post with a video of you masturbating. It would be helpful to the scenario to include your full birth name, address, and employer, since that is the scenario that folks who would be blackmailed would be facing.

Since you really don't care.

It is possible that you mean what you say, but I believe its more likely you lack imagination to what impact the above scenario would actually feel like once you're in it.

That silly proposition aside, I agree with you about the microphone killswitch. Certainly overlooked.

[–] Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works 2 points 8 months ago

That's a rather self-centered statement, imo. Just because you may not be bothered by the idea, does not mean that it does not have merit for others. That line of thinking is in a similar vein to saying "We don't need freedom of speech because I have nothing to say.".

[–] Chriszz@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Well? We’re waiting for the first lemmy fap video. Go on, OP.

[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 0 points 8 months ago

So sending a video of you fapping to your employer and family isn't a problem? It still wouldn't be a problem if you were a teenager or a young adult at the beginning of their career?

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