
NSA Spy Cam Blocker - humbyvaldes
https://store.randpaul.com/index.php/nsa-spy-cam-blocker.html
======
justaman
A better idea would have been a "Rand-aid". A sticker in the shape of a band-
aid that covers the webcam so you can still close your laptop.

~~~
Crito
You could even just use band-aids. The cotton section would protect the lens
from the adhesive. You could probably even commission a run of them with some
sort of branding printed on the back.

------
natch
Stole the idea from the EFF, which sells it for a lot less money:

[https://supporters.eff.org/shop/laptop-camera-cover-
set](https://supporters.eff.org/shop/laptop-camera-cover-set)

~~~
finnh
Not really apples-to-apples, though. The Rand Paul cover is a sliding bit of
plastic, vs just an adhesive strip.

~~~
ceejayoz
The Rand Paul cover is a _campaign contribution_.

 _edit:_ Not sure why this is getting downvoted. The price difference is
unlikely to have much to do with the physical costs involved. Political
campaign stores typically have inflated prices as they're fundraising efforts.

~~~
rsync
Do not interrupt the discussion to meta-discuss the scoring. Do not question
or comment about your own downvotes.

~~~
ceejayoz
It's more an attempt to clarify the point (which appears to have worked).

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dataker
If anyone is exploiting my system, microphone would be my top priority.
Getting image doesn't really tell as much as listening to what, how and when
you talk.

~~~
s_q_b
You can also extrapolate a fairly decent image from the microphone, sort of
like a make-shift SONAR.

~~~
usefulcat
From multiple microphones, perhaps, but from a single microphone? Seems
unlikely.

~~~
s_q_b
You have an array of microphones in your phone alone, not to mention the
speakers, which are just low-fi mics. But in any case, you can do it with one
microphone.

E.g.
[http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/862.13/students/brandon/index...](http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/862.13/students/brandon/index.html)

[http://www.extremetech.com/computing/128735-microsoft-
create...](http://www.extremetech.com/computing/128735-microsoft-creates-
kinect-like-system-using-your-laptops-built-in-speaker-microphone)

~~~
fyrabanks
That first technique A) is very audibly noticeable B) requires you to put the
laptop on a chair and wheel it around the room to make up for the fact that
you only have a single microphone.

The second technique basically only understands gestures.

I wouldn't be at all worried about this in the wild...

~~~
s_q_b
Someone actually did it to China's PLA Unit 61398 using a technique similar to
this: [http://www.gizmag.com/microphone-room-mapping-
epfl/27985/](http://www.gizmag.com/microphone-room-mapping-epfl/27985/), so
I'd say it's worth worrying about in the wild.

------
tombrossman
The website is also using Google Analytics without disclosing this in their
privacy policy, which violates Google Analytics' TOS[0] and is a pet peeve of
mine. Hard to take the site too seriously but I like that privacy is a
campaign issue, so it isn't all bad news.

 _" You must post a Privacy Policy and that Privacy Policy must provide notice
of Your use of cookies that are used to collect data. You must disclose the
use of Google Analytics, and how it collects and processes data."_

[0][http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html](http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html)

------
kapitalx
A great way to both raise campaign financing and instill fear

~~~
peeters
I'm OK with a bit of fear mongering if it means that warrantless spying
actually becomes an election issue. These tactics have been used to go to war
and substantially reduce individual rights; at least this is a cause I can
somewhat get behind.

~~~
kevinnk
"I'm okay with the ends justifying the means when the ends are something I
like."

~~~
Karunamon
Worst case scenario for this "fear mongering": People put sticky tape over /
unplug their cameras.

Or are you against all instances of causing people to be afraid of something
on principle?

~~~
kevinnk
Fear mongering has the connotation of making people irrationally afraid for
your own benefit, which, yes, I am against in all instances on principle.

~~~
peeters
If that's the definition you're working off of, so be it. I mostly agree with
you. I wasn't qualifying the fear as being "irrational".

------
myth_buster
The Nope [0] laptop cover (featured in kickstarter) uses magnets and prevents
from scratching the camera lens.

[0] [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1893116150/nope-live-
fr...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1893116150/nope-live-free)

~~~
mhurron
Also looks like it would prevent the laptop from closing all the way.

------
ebbv
Brought to you by the guy who:

\- Used to claim the Civil Rights Act went too far before he started thinking
maybe he wanted to be president.

\- Says he will sell off a bunch of our national parks to the highest bidder.

\- Invented his own bogus Ophthalmologist certificate and certified himself.

Come on HN, you're better than this.

------
Stefan-H
I am a big fan of the Nope that had a kickstarted a little while ago. It is
small and still allows your macbook to close:
[http://erlibird.com/go/nope](http://erlibird.com/go/nope)

------
PaulHoule
When I was in a grad school I remember a professor who bought an SGI machine
without enough RAM so he couldn't do work with it but he left it plugged into
the wall outlet and ethernet for 5 years or so and didn't even know the root
password when it got hacked.

Those machines came with a camera that had a little door you could slide to
cover it, so at least he had that protection.

~~~
Animats
_Those machines came with a camera that had a little door you could slide to
cover it, so at least he had that protection._

Yes. Here's one in the closed position.[1] That feature seems to have
disappeared.

There was a time when people were bothered about phones where the switchhook
didn't physically disconnect the microphone. All the Western Electric phones
had a hard disconnect when the phones were hung up. Many digital office phones
don't have that, and can be used for eavesdropping.

[1]
[http://www.tamayatech.com/ProductImages/S/SGI-0138737XXX.jpe...](http://www.tamayatech.com/ProductImages/S/SGI-0138737XXX.jpeg)

------
tracker1
I'm surprised some laptops don't have something similar built in.. though a
small piece of electrical tape works as well.

~~~
eridal
I'm not surprised at all, it's like these embedded battery on mobile phones ..
so anyone cannot easily remove them

------
po1nter
Nice idea but I wish more manufacturers had something like this built into
their laptops. An old ASUS of mine came with a sliding piece of plastic that
you could use to cover the webcam[1] when not in use.

[1]:[http://imgur.com/90X6PHF](http://imgur.com/90X6PHF)

------
CHY872
Would this not just stop you from closing your laptop lid? I have a piece of
tape over my laptop's webcam and that doesn't impinge on much (and actually
has a useful purpose since I've been able to avoid the dreaded video interview
when applying for jobs).

------
dogma1138
To be fair that piece of plastic will be a much more effective NSA blocker
than Rand Paul ever will.

------
kefs
Relevant GCHQ/NSA Program for looking at your webcam dick pics..

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_Nerve_%28GCHQ%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_Nerve_%28GCHQ%29)

~~~
SG-
While I'm sure there are other projects at NSA and GCHQ that actually break
into targets and records without user knowledge, the Optic Nerve project was
meant to simply grab unencrypted video stream data from Yahoo Messenger from
people willfully recording themselves while "tapping" parts of the Internet.

Yahoo only decided to provide the option to enable encryption sometime in 2014
after they found about it and it's pretty shameful on their part.

There's mention of MS too with Kinect but I'm not sure if it was sending out
encrypted video or simply using weak encryption.

------
tek-cyb-org
Believe it or not.... This is actually a GREAT business idea. Just him being a
politician, and having access to that ultra targeted customer base. Not that
this product is actually useful or anything.

------
halgir
Printable cam blocker:
[http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:195405](http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:195405)

------
joshavant
Without having looked at any wiring schematics for the iSight module... does
anyone know if it's even possible to apply power to the iSight hardware
module, without the LED becoming illuminated?

I would presume the LED is wired directly to the module's power. Then, it
would be physically impossible to turn on the camera, without the LED becoming
illuminated. (And, in my opinion, obviate much of the need for these silly
stickers.)

It would also be an odd design for Apple to make the camera's LED indicator an
independently controllable component.

~~~
s_q_b
Yes, you can activate the camera without activating the LED. The LED is not
directly wired to the power supply.[0]

[0][http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-
switch/wp/2013/12/18...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-
switch/wp/2013/12/18/research-shows-how-macbook-webcams-can-spy-on-their-
users-without-warning/)

Edit in Reply: Not necessarily. It's probably still possible on modern Apple
hardware, albeit with a lot of firmware hacking, according to the authors of
the paper: [http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/117937/how-to-
use-i...](http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/117937/how-to-use-isight-
webcam-without-activating-the-green-light)

~~~
kaolinite
Well, not exactly. At one point you were able to, but the flaw has been fixed
for over 5 years now. It affected cameras on some Macs sold between 2006 and
2009 I believe.

Here's the paper describing the flaw:
[https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2...](https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2/36569/camera.pdf?sequence=1)

~~~
s_q_b
Not necessarily. It's probably still possible on modern Apple hardware, albeit
with a lot of firmware hacking, according to the authors of the paper:
[http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/117937/how-to-
use-i...](http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/117937/how-to-use-i..).

------
weberc2
I find that a sticky note works well, particularly in strip form. Much
cheaper.

------
ary
This is a testament to how helpless the average person is when it comes to
using, much less understanding, modern computer technology. It is the
equivalent of "duct tape and WD-40" to repair a broken down vehicle.

As a software developer I'm regularly ashamed by the inaccessibility of
computer technology. The non-technical individual's inability to control what
happens to them and around them in regards to electronics and software is
rapidly outstripping their capacity to act in their own self interest.

It's kind of depressing.

~~~
elihu
I think the low-tech solution is the correct one in this case. If one wants to
be sure their camera is not recording them they can a) audit the entire source
code of their OS and relevant applications (including the complete chain of
compilers that have ever been used to compile compilers for their device all
the way back to the very first one), device firmware, and inspect the circuit
layout of all integrated circuit devices in their computer to look for
backdoors or b) they can put something in front of the lens.

I agree that this is a pretty regrettable state of affairs that we basically
can't trust anything with a turing-complete processor in it somewhere.

~~~
ary
For this specific case I'd argue that a switch which severs the power from
both the camera and the mic simultaneously is the right solution. A physical
sheath could also cover the camera for peace of mind. As others have pointed
out the mic is probably the more dangerous of the two.

