{"id":4599,"date":"2025-05-06T09:37:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T09:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/?p=4599"},"modified":"2025-05-06T09:37:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T09:37:01","slug":"should-you-cover-your-laptop-camera-when-its-not-in-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/should-you-cover-your-laptop-camera-when-its-not-in-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Cover Your Laptop Camera When It\u2019s Not in Use?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You\u2019d be hard-pressed to find a laptop<\/a><\/strong> that doesn\u2019t have a built-in webcam nowadays. While that makes it easier to hop on a Zoom call or FaceTime, you might worry about leaving that camera<\/a><\/strong> uncovered all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Steve Blair, CR\u2019s lead privacy and security researcher, it\u2019s possible for webcams to be hacked<\/a><\/strong> and set to record audio and\/or video without your knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The odds of that happening to an everyday consumer (as opposed to a high-profile target<\/a><\/strong> like an activist or government worker) are probably low. But if you\u2019re concerned, you can cover the camera with a bit of tape when it\u2019s not in use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also buy stick-on laptop camera<\/a><\/strong> covers that slide shut. Some laptops<\/a><\/strong>, such as the Lenovo ThinkPad and the MSI Prestige (below), have built-in privacy covers for their webcams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if the camera<\/a><\/strong> is covered, the built-in mic could still pick up audio. To address that, you can go into the system settings and switch the default microphone to a different device, like a USB headset or an external microphone<\/a><\/strong>, then simply disconnect or turn off that device.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019d be hard-pressed to find a laptop that doesn\u2019t have a built-in webcam nowadays. While that makes it easier to hop on a Zoom call or FaceTime, you might worry about leaving that camera uncovered all the time. According to Steve Blair, CR\u2019s lead privacy and security researcher, it\u2019s possible for webcams to be hacked and set to record audio and\/or … Continue reading “Should You Cover Your Laptop Camera When It\u2019s Not in Use?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2484,2482,2483],"class_list":["post-4599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-laptop","tag-laptop-camera","tag-online-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4600,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599\/revisions\/4600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}