Ask HN: How many internet-connected microphones are near you at this moment?  - cryptoz
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regularfry
1\. My mobile phone. Due to my habit of bodging desktops together out of
whatever parts I happen to have lying around, the machine I'm currently
working on doesn't actually have a microphone connected. Or, for that matter,
case screws.

My webcam is disconnected thanks to an abortive attempt to couple it to a
mini-projector to hack up a projected keyboard.

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geekam
It'd be nice to state the intention of the question or elaborate it a little.

Also, add "Ask HN:" in the beginning please.

~~~
cryptoz
Added to the title. Thanks.

There's no specific intent to the question other than curiosity about the
topic. It's inspired by the recent NSA news but I didn't intend conversation
to be limited to that.

~~~
geekam
Thanks. That's the reason I asked about it. I have stopped reading or at least
have not read or heard about any latest NSA news. So, I have no clue
whatsoever.

I think I vaguely knew it was about privacy but was not sure why was the
question being posed about the number of microphones. So, now I am curious
about the story!

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anonymoushn
Two. One logitech G35 attached to a PC running Windows and one laptop internal
microphone.

Turning on more devices would get me another laptop internal mic and the mics
in a phone and a tablet.

Both laptops, the tablet, and the phone have 5 or 6 cameras in total. The
desktop also has a camera, but it is pointed at a ceiling fan when not in use.

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Samuel_Michon
_> The desktop also has a camera, but it is pointed at a ceiling fan when not
in use._

I’d totally watch that, do you have a link? You could even sweeten the deal by
throwing some socks at the fan at random times.

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cinquemb
2 mics, 2 cams.

Say if you are running osx, and run the command:

    
    
        osascript -e 'set volume input volume 0'
    

the microphone still seems to be accepting inputs, can anyone else elaborate
on why this is?

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null_ptr
5 microphones and 5 cameras. Not very pleasant to think about. I used to keep
a piece of electrical tape on my laptop's webcam but it looks like it came
off, time to put a new one back on.

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sachin0235
Is it possible that some app installed in my iPhone secretly transmits all my
real world conversations while i am talking to people around me? Yes quite
possible. Now think about it - What if Apple, Google or NSA had installed a
secret code in our phones to spy on us? Scary isn't it?

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rouan
One laptop. Two if oldschool nonsmart phone counts, it is connected to cell
tower so I imagine it might count as well.

Wouldnt we see network activity if it was sending any kind of packets? Or
could this be dark activity and hidden from normal network monitoring?

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realguess
I have an old headphone that is plugging to the microphone socket of my
laptop. So, one down, many more to go. Have not figure out a way to deal with
microphone in mobile devices. Suggestions?

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maaku
Uh, wouldn't this be _more_ likely to get a signal? An (analog) headphone is a
sort-of, piss-poor microphone in reverse, whereas a naked port doesn't
magically pick up sounds from the ether...

~~~
realguess
There are usually two microphones in laptop, plug in one disables the other. I
should say two down, more to go.

~~~
eloisius
I can't find a source but I remember something on HN a while back about this
not being the case with new MBPs. The input device is software-controlled now.
If you care to search for it, it had to do with laptop security guidelines for
employees of some government agency.

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GoldfishCRM
It is a scary thought. Never thought about it until now. Thanks.

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ricardobeat
Four mics, three cameras. Shouldn't this be a poll?

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6d0debc071
2 -

Phone, webcam.

Can't think of any others I'd have near me off hand.

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Sealy
I'd say 10 or more in my vicinity. Im in an office with mobiles, cisco ip
phones, laptops and desktops everywhere. If you were talking about this
floor... then that figure could easily go into the hundreds O_O !

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binarymax
Three.

This may have worked better as a Poll :)

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jjsz
Two:

1- SGS3- I9300 [AOSPA] {1 mic; 2 cameras}

2- Dell Inspiron- 1121z [Arch Linux] {1 mic; 1 camera}

I'm expecting a targeted add to sell me plastic camera covers and white noise
mic aux ins later on the road because of this post. It's all good.

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graeme
Three. Laptop mic, + a wi-fi connect ipad and iphone.

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climax
7 mics and 7 cameras.. in my bed room :(

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ctdonath
3 mics. And I'm in the car.

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jjindev
zero, actually. Not super intentional. I tend to unplug my speakers and plug
in the headset only when I need it. The cell phone is in the other room.

I did like the old days when forward facing cameras had slide shutters on
them.

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jeena
2 microphones, 0 cameras

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dutchbrit
No smartphone?

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rismay
3 mics and 3 cameras...

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pathy
Four, laptop webcam, another webcam, an usb mic and my phone.

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olalonde
Why is this question getting up voted and why is it relevant?

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iamthebest
Four(that I know of):

Kindle Keyboard Two phones Hands-free Bluetooth device

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iNeal
Three.

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ams6110
One.

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wilg
4 mics, 4 cameras.

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krapp
zero.

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sarreph
Lucius Fox

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sarreph
Why is this getting down-voted?

It's simply a Dark Knight reference to Batman's microphone-array self-destruct
password.

~~~
eliasmacpherson
I have one microphone near me, connected to the internet. The technology in
the Dark Knight was novel to me. I was already aware of law enforcement
remotely arming a mic on a normal cellphone at that time[1]. I am pretty sure
fixed lines can be bugged in a similar fashion. As anyone who watched it with
an interest in technology, I was fascinated by the pooling of microphones to
generate a sonar like map of Gotham.

What struck me recently, as that was a piece of art, there are two
possibilities (non-mutually exclusive). That the technology already existed
and art was imitating life, or that people were inspired thereafter to create
the technology and life was imitating art. Certainly both could be true and
I'm willing to entertain a third possibility that noone bothered, but that
seems unlikely to me.

[1]
[http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html](http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html)

