Is My Phone Camera Watching and Listening to Me?
In the past decade, there has been a lot of buzz about the extent of spying, and what online monitoring companies have been putting us through. It looks like nothing is private anymore, from monitoring our internet behavior to using our phones to watch and listen to us.
Have you ever come home, only for your phone to ask you how your experience was visiting the particular place you went to even when you weren’t using the internet?
Or, think back. There must have been times when you were casually talking with a friend about something and seen ads for that very thing on your social media the minute you started scrolling. The number of times these incidences have occurred globally leaves no doubt in mind that advertising companies, apps, social media, and other stakeholders are using our phones to spy on us.
But don’t just jump on the bandwagon yet; let’s discuss this in a little more detail. This blog will explore all the possibilities and everything you need to know to understand what is going on.
Can My Phone Camera Be Hacked Into?
The short answer; yes, it can—and very easily so. Back in 2014, a university student came out with an application that could take pictures, and record video and audio even while the device’s screen was off.
The application worked beautifully with almost all devices, even bypassing Google’s preview as a security requirement. This was done by significantly reducing the pixel size to almost invisible, and voila—the app had no qualms about taking hidden pictures.
The idea seemed like fun at the time, giving more control of a user’s phone in his own hands; however, thinking of the application as malware or spyware certainly makes us raise eyebrows.
How Can I Tell That My Phone Has Been Hacked Into?
There are a couple of ways to tell if your phone has been hacked.
- You can see pictures and videos in your photo album that you have no recollection of taking.
- The flash of your phone camera sometimes turns on when you aren’t even using your phone.
- Your camera lags a lot.
- Your device battery is draining faster than usual.
A Word on App Permissions
You know how every time you download an application and use it for the first time, there’s a dialogue box asking you to grant is permission before you use it? Most times, you’re signing away your privacy as you grant permissions.
This came to light back in 2014 with Facebook asking for permission to take pictures and videos without you knowing. Even though later on in 2018, Zuckerberg did give congressional testimony that stated that the social media platform does not listen to private conversations. He further stated that the company does have access to the audio in the videos that users record for Facebook.
Should I Cover My Phone Camera and Mic?
A picture of Mark Zuckerberg circulated almost a decade ago where he was revealed to keep his laptop camera covered. The practice has become pretty standard these days, with lots of people resorting to putting tapes over their camera lens and microphones.
The question is, how effective is it? The truth is that there is no real downside, apart from it being a hassle to take off the covering every time you need to use it and putting it back on again when you’re done.
If you’re concerned about your online privacy, though, one of the best ways to boost it is to use Ivacy VPN. The tool offers 256-bit AES military-grade encryption and comes with a server network of over 5700+ servers in 100+ countries.
Furthermore, the VPN comes with a split tunneling feature which lets you use the internet with and without the encrypted tunnel at the same time to ensure high-speeds making it ideal for everyday usage.
