[email protected]: Are there any privacy issues with keeping camera or mic access on for iOS apps?

iOS is very good about sandboxing and only letting apps run things while the app is open and focused on. It shows green and orange dots when the camera or mic is being used, and none of my use them without saying so and they only do so when they actually need them. If that is the case, are there any potential privacy issues with it?

Broken ,

As others have said, it's all about your threat model.

For me, I keep mic and camera off at all times until I need it. Its a slight nuisance, but I'm nearly sure that it covers all the bases.

I could go hardcore and physically disable the mic in my phone, then only use earbuds for my mic. That's a bit much for me, and maybe my situation is a bit much for you.

TrueMonoxidist ,

Sounds like you trust iOS sandboxing. I have my suspicions it’s not perfect, so how big of a deal it is depends on your threat model. If I’m on iOS I tend to manually enable the camera if I ever need it, and I also avoid using apps when possible.

If I needed to use an app daily that requires camera access, I might change my habit because that sounds like a lot of work.

Fades ,

I agree. To your last point, I think you need to add more nuance. Lots of apps can take pics and thus require access same as mic. It’s not always a red flag until it is, which naturally should bring you back to a threat model you are comfortable with when analyzing whether permissions are valid

PlexSheep ,

Depends on how paranoid you are and if you trust the people making your software.

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