A recent revelation about the use of the camera on Androidstates that there are applications that use the camera without users knowing it.
This fact can take on unpleasant dimensions since a malicious application could take photos or even videos and send them to a remote location.
Smartphone security is in the spotlight , and the revelation that cameras operate even without the user's knowledge is causing great concern.
Szymon Sidor recently published an article, where he explains in great detail how camera permissions on Android can be manipulated and how the user can be deceived.
Ideally , the camera should only take photos when the shutter is open. Therefore, it is unlikely for the user to ignore that the camera app is opening on its own and taking photos.
The key to this is to find a way to darken the camera shutter in some way. After many attempts, Sidor realized that the screen size could be changed by up to 1 pixel.
On a modern Android phone, 1 pixel on a 1080p screen is nothing, and would be almost impossible for a user to detect. Through this manipulation , he found that the app he built could take photos and email them from the device, even when the user was looking at the screen, without them even realizing it was happening.
When it comes to permissions, there are many ways to make sure this doesn't happen on your phone or tablet. All you have to do is check when installing an app from the Play Store what permissions are requested. If the app isn't related to the camera, it shouldn't ask for permission to use the camera.
Android also has a processes file that lets users know what apps are running in the background and which ones are requesting permission to operate.
Source: e-pcmag.gr
