Did you know your computer connected camera may be displaying more about you than you know? You really should be aware what apps have the ability to access your camera to retain your privacy. There are all sorts of ways of preventing your camera displaying more than you want to others, methods like disconnecting your camera if it is separate to your pc, or physically covering the lens of a built in camera. You can even buy stickers on the internet made for this. The camera can even be disabled by using device manager.
But, there are times when you might want to use your camera, maybe for Skype or another application of your choosing, so lets look at a more elegant and flexible solution.
With Windows 10 there are specific settings for your camera that make it easy to disable it entirely, or allow only applications of your choice to access the camera. Let’s look how this works.
Firstly click the Windows 10 start icon
On the next dialogue box click the “Privacy” section
Then click “Camera” on the left of the next box.
All the settings we need are now listed on the right hand side, with the master switch at the top listed immediately under “Let apps use my camera”. If you click on that slide switch it will toggle the camera on and off, and when its off disable all apps from using the camera.
The example settings above show the camera is enabled only for Messaging and Skype, with all other possible operating functions switched off. Adjust the settings to suit your needs and take control of your Windows 10 camera.
We hope this short guide helps you to control your privacy and should you need more information please do not hesitate to ask in our forums.