How do you ensure Camera/Microphone are not on?

[dizlmonsta]

OK... let's take a trip down paranoia lane for a minute. And why not... with what happened in that school in Philly with the laptops issued to students, whose cameras/mics were being controlled by malware, without them knowing... I think asking this question is definitely appropriate, for anyone who values their privacy.

I'm wondering if there are any apps/tools/ways to ensure that the Camera/Mic are not taking video/pics/recordings without the user knowing. Smartphones with dual cameras, microphones, and high speed 4G connectivity are a tin-foil hat wearer's trophy Big Brother tool. I don't want to instigate paranoia but I also don't have faith that every app I install has no intention of doing sneaky things.

Any tools or techniques out there for this?

 

[zshazz]

Every app you download tells you whether they can access the camera or microphone. If it is something like "Naked Japanese Girls Wallpapers" and also has internet access, you might have reason to doubt the trustworthiness of the app.

 

[dizlmonsta]

That's true, but I'm more interested in knowing WHEN something attempts to use the camera or microphone.

 

[zshazz]

Fair enough. I'm not sure if that's possible, but hopefully someone can shed some light on the matter.

For your concerns of malware, though, I think it's sufficient to make sure that you aren't downloading apps which request the permission to use camera/microphone/internet simultaneously if that's your concern.