comment: >
  
  Maybe have other phone for camera stuff
  Like I use Google pixel for camera stuff, instead of my main phone
context: This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.
  Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"
  (For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, please read this page.)
  Rule-breaking posts may result in bans. >
  
  I block mine not because of hackers. It’s because I don’t want to join a meeting with my camera accidentally on while in my pajamas when working from home. >
  
  Fun time. I was wfh and on a 50+ meeting with all the higher ups in a 2000+ employee ran company. Had my camera off because I like to lay in bed naked. I was sitting on my phone browsing reddit since it was just one of those pat yourself on the back meetings, and I was high enough up in the company where I was required to attend.
  So, in the middle of the meeting, I decided to look and see the computer screen of a video of me scratching my balls. I freaked out and frantically moved my mouse to close the video.
  Luckily for me, it was just a preview video that Microsoft TEAMs does when your mouse is hovering over the video on/off icon. So, no one saw anything. But man, did it scare the shit out of me to start using the camera covers. >
  
  We’re missing important context, were you doing the stretch and scratch? The old fashion? The pinch and roll? We’re on the edge of our seat here. >
  
  The scratch and sniff. >
  
  When I jerk off using my phone i always cover both cameras. I dont want the FBI guy see my nutface >
  
  What the hell are you jerking off to!? >
  
  lovecraftian cosmic horrors >
  
  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) >
  
  You're right, but there's actually a valid reason for that. Your phone's os has much better security controls than your desktop os. Desktop os controls are still mostly user oriented, while mobile os controls are more application oriented.
  Desktops are evolving toward a more modern model, but legacy compatibility keeps them less secure. >
  
  I mean, spying on a windows laptop is doable, but good luck spying on an iPhone if your first name isn’t Tim and you last name Cook >
  
  Hi I'm Cook Tim >
  
  Tim apple? >
  
  I've definitely seen people on the bus with bits of masking tape over their front facing camera, so the struggle is real >
  
  See this is why I'm really annoyed the pop-up selfie cameras never really took off. A few phones came out c. 2018-2019 and they are glorious things. Edge to edge screens (no notch) and the privacy of a  camera lens that is hidden. It is scary how often that thing pops up (a sign the app is taking your picture) - all apps get camera access disabled from that point on. And the mechanism is durable too - the same as old school CD trays.
  The problem with pop-up cameras is two fold: they take up quite a bit of internal space (around 1" x 0.5") and they can hurt waterproof ratings. And so manufacturers have decided that consumers care more about an extra 30 minutes of battery life and putting their phones in glasses of water than they do basic privacy. Hence why the camera notch reins supreme and theres only a couple of niche Chinese phones with pop-up cameras now. >
  
  It's a shame how phones with physical switches for Bluetooth, camera, wifi, etc., never took off. That's the ONLY way to be sure it's not being used maliciously in today's world. >
  
  To be fair, the days of physical switches being responsible for activating a seperate circuit (to, for example, activate the camera) are well behind us. Such switches are really just toggling an input to either an imbedded chip or the software operating system, both of which could be accessed and manipulated by a sufficiently advanced hack. >
  
  There were a number of niche phones (usually security focused and had non-standard OSs) over the years that had a physical disconnect in the form of a switch. In general, security and privacy need more of a focus in consumer electronics, but this likely has a lot to do with consumers not demanding it. >
  
  I would be very interested if it was actually a physical disconnect as that isn't really how electronics are manufactured these days. Often times these sorts of things are just a marketing gimmick but the switch is still operating at the OS level. I remember reading that some of those "security phones" were found to be fundamentally flawed. I could be wrong though. >
  
  It u deny permission to camera for all the apps. Does the camera still pop up at random?
  I never had one of those. Kinda want now >
  
  No, it never pops up at random. The camera will only pop up once the OS recieves an (approved) request to access the front facing camera.
  What was scary to me is that random websites where taking photos. I didn't even know this was possible - I had given firefox permission to take photos, probably to upload images to safe website like reddit, but I thought each website had to request permission (e.g. dodgy.website has requested access to your camera: allow/deny)... but apparently not. Firefox lost access that day and every other app doesn't get it (except for the camera app of couse). 
  But even then, let's say you got hacked, you still have about 1 second of warning when that whirring starts that the front camera is about to switch on. Which is really good security feature. >
  
  Unless they have a phone case with camera covers. I’ve seen them for front- and rear-facing cameras. >
  
  If people want to watch me playing with my skin they are more than welcome, it is quite stretchy I could probably make money on only fans for people with weird fetishes >
  
  Lol what 👀😂 >
  
  Id love to use a phone case that has some sort of slider so you can cover and cover the front camera. >
  
  They have these adhesive covers >
  
  Yep I've been using these for a couple of years, they're great! >
  
  To be fair, cellphones are quite harder to hack than laptop, and the permission system on the cellphone make it harder for a bad app to gain access to the camera. >
  
  Phones are a lot more annoying to do that for and less practical and generally when you don't use them they face up so not much to see, also there's phones with mechanical cameras which retract inside the phone thus covering it up. >
  
  It's even stupider than that. They never think about the microphones, which are more likely to pick up something from a hidden compartment than a camera, and are not disabled by the camera slider that new laptops have. >
  
  A mic can’t pick up my nakedness >
  
  I would happily rather buy a phone that has no camera, I never use it and honesty I just end up trying to cover it when I'm having some me time >
  
  How... how do you never use your camera? Do you not have friends? Do you not see interesting things when you leave the house? Do you not just sit on your couch and play with silly snapchat filters and send them to your friends? No family, pets, nothing that warrants a quick snap of a pic? I am baffled. >
  
  It’s quite possible they just have a separate camera. >
  
  I guess but its still weird to me to never use your phone camera.