Do you think a hardware cutoff switch for the camera, like the Librem 5 and PinePhone, is enough to ensure privacy, or would you really want an actual built-in camera cover like is on some laptops (that presumably also kills the power since the system knows whether the camera is covered). The caveat for only having a switch being that you can’t very easily audit the circuitry to check if it’s actually turning off the camera, but the benefit being that it’s easier to implement, has fewer points of failure, and will leave more room for a bigger camera.

Also, would you want separate switches for front and rear facing cameras or are you okay with turning both of them on and off with one switch?

  • Axaoe
    3·
    4 years ago

    I think I could do without a camera altogether so Im OK with a switch handling both (I used the OnePlus 7 Pro for awhile, popup selfish camera that was never used for the win).

    I’d honestly just be happy with options that are native and not like a case that offers camera blocks, adding your own etc.

    I don’t know what would be best for me, but I havent had devices that offer this minus the PinePhone - and I couldnt use that for my everyday tasks so don’t feel it counts (I also just kept the camera switched off so I didnt cause the OS to freeze/crash with some of the earlier builds).

    • Kamui
      2·
      4 years ago

      Omg yes me too. There’s just cameras on eeeeeverything when I don’t even use it.