We live in times when privacy is always in question. Our personal data is available to a large number of applications whose management may not always be as transparent as we would like. Luckily, Google has gradually polished the security aspects of Android, to keep applications more at bay in aspects such as access to the location or the camera. But in order to enhance that privacy, and in the same way that the web-cam of a laptop is covered, should we do the same with that of our mobile?
It seems to be very assumed, and we do not call anyone whose front camera of a laptop is covered paranoid. It seems that we have assumed that there are certain people who are more suspicious of their privacy, and that they fear that not all the software that they may have installed on their computer complies with what was promised or that they could spy on them through their mobile phones. It is also a security measure against a possible attack that gains access to this hardware element and can remotely record our movements in front of the computer. If we apply the same logic to our mobile, couldn’t it make the same sense to cover the selfie camera?
To cover or not to cover, that is the question
As far as the Android operating system is concerned, we have control so that the applications have access to the camera , only when said application is in use. That means that when we go out, Android does not grant access to the camera to that particular app. In older versions of Android, especially before Android 9 Pie, it was common to grant permissions permanently, so privacy was more in suspense. If we make good use of these permissions, the applications should not be able to activate the camera, without it will not be used for the purpose that each app requires.
I still want to cover it
It can be very understandable that despite all the security measures offered by the most recent versions of Android (from Android 10 onwards), there are users who are suspicious and do not like having one or two selfie sensors pointing for hours, although theory tells us that are off. In this sense, and before physically covering the camera, we can disable it manually so that it cannot be used in any way.
Disable mobile camera
If we do this, no application will be able to access the camera until we grant access permission again. To do this we will have to enter Settings / Permissions / Applications and tap on each app to deny access to the camera. This will make them unable to start
Cover the mobile camera
If even so, we are not entirely sure, we can physically cover the front camera using any of the accessories that have been designed for this purpose. In portals like Amazon we can find them at a low cost and they will serve us for any device. In addition, they have a window that slides to re-enable the view of the camera, in the same way that we have been seeing in laptops for years.