Protecting Against Rogue Camera Access
iOS users often grant camera access to an app soon after they download it (e.g., to add an avatar or send a photo). These apps, like a messaging app or any news-feed-based app, can easily track the users face, take pictures, or live stream the front and back camera, without the user’s consent.
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How can the root of the problem be fixed, so we don’t have to use camera covers?
- Offer a way to grant temporary access to the camera (e.g. to take and share one picture with a friend on a messaging app), related to detect.location.
- Show an icon in the status bar that the camera is active, and force the status bar to be visible whenever an app accesses the camera
- Add an LED to the iPhone’s camera (both sides) that can’t be worked around by sandboxed apps, which is the elegant solution that the MacBook uses
