Controlling access to iSight

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Level 3

940 points

Controlling access to iSight

Hello everybody,

again I want to raise the question: How do I control which application is accessing my build in iSight camera? I had posted before ( http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=426480&tstart=0, July 2006, and http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=779892&tstart=0, December 2006), but nobody replyed.

Now I stumbled upon "Undercover" which tries to help to recover a stolen Mac ( http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/). It claims:

If your Mac has a built-in iSight, or if the thief attached an external iSight, Undercover will send iSight pictures of the thief. Think of it as running Photo Booth in the background. (http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/works.html)

While it does not explicitly say so, the wording suggests that the thief will be unaware of the pictures taken. To be honest, if the LED lights up, the scheme will collapse and the application would not be worth a dime. The whole concept is based upon a thief not being aware of Undercover running.

So again, I ask: How do I control access to my iSight? Any idea? 10.5 does not seem to show any more settings pointing in this direction ...

Regards
Jim

Macbook Pro 15" 2,4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Oct 31, 2007 7:54 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 31, 2007 9:45 AM in response to Jim Knopf

Jim what do you mean by controlling access. Only allow certain programs to access the isight? being able to disable the greenlight on your built-in isight? Disable the use of the isight by any program? Can you give an example of what you would like to do?

Paul

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Answer 2

Jim Knopf Author

Level 3

940 points

Oct 31, 2007 10:04 AM in response to Paul Conaway

Sorry Paul, I should have been more specific.

What I want to have is something sort of a whitelist for the applications/processes which I want to grant access to my iSight/microphone. Because, as I had stated earlier (see my last post) and now again, there seem to be ways to activate iSight without the LED indicating this.

Regards
Jim

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Answer 3

EZ Jim

Level 7

22,590 points

Oct 31, 2007 1:08 PM in response to Jim Knopf

Hello Jim,

Although you can have multiple apps open at the same time, as explained in Apple's iSight "Your camera is in use by another application" message, iSight is only actually being used by one application at a time.

If I understand your question correctly, how you control your iSight must be different depending upon which software is using your iSight.

Do not be concerned that your iSight's green indicator light illuminates for a few seconds when you startup or reboot. This is merely Mac OS polling attached devices.

Applications software works differently. For example, you can use iChat's Video > Camera Enabled menu command to toggle the camera on and off. iMovie also allows you to toggle iSight's video recording function.

For other apps, the only control is to not launch them. For example, there would be no reason to have Photo Booth running at all with the camera disconnected because Photo Booth offers no function other than operating the camera.

To be sure you are considering all apps that might be using your iSight, check for Login Items that can use iSight, look in your Dock for any running applications, and check for widgets that might use your iSight. (It is easy to forget widgets like Mirror in your Dashboard.)

I don't think there is any "whitelist" or way to find a list of running applications on your Mac that could use your iSight. You will need to do the manual check.

EZ

Jim

PowerBook 1.67 GHz w/Mac OS X (10.4.10) G5 DP 1.8 w/Mac OS X (10.5) External iSight

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Answer 4

Jim Knopf Author

Level 3

940 points

Nov 1, 2007 2:00 AM in response to EZ Jim

Hi EZ Jim,

thank you for your detailed answer, and I would agree with you. But the problem is with bad software which tries to spy on you. That maleware would use my iSight without me knowing it because the indicator light can be suppressed.

That's what I am driving at ... and a whitelist would give me some control over what is happening with my camera. And I regard the absence of such a form of protection as a flaw in Apples hardware/OS-Design.

Regards
Jim

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Answer 5

EZ Jim

Level 7

22,590 points

Nov 1, 2007 8:44 AM in response to Jim Knopf

You're welcome, Jim

Thanks for letting me know you found my post helpful.

I don't use anything but Mac operating systems, so if your concern is about using your iSight with Windows or some other PC OS on your Mac, I have no suggestions. If your concern is with OS X, consider the following.

I have never seen any documented cases of maleware using iSight in OS X, but you could check your Mac by using the Activity Monitor utility.

If I correctly understand the term "whitelist", Activity Monitor will not provide such, but it can show a list of processes running on your OS X Mac.

You seem to be a highly cautious and thorough user. I am not a sufficiently expert OS X user to help you determine: (1) which processes showing in Activity Monitor can commandeer your iSight, (2) whether it is possible to hide processes from Activity Monitor, or (3) whether one of the visible processes might modify a legitimate process to use your iSight covertly. If you do not have the necessary level of expertise, and if you do not find the help you need here in Apple Discussions, perhaps a Mac OS X study course could provide the answers you seek.

To send your Mac OS comments and suggestions directly to Apple in addition to this user forum, submit via Mac OS X Feedback.

For Hardware issues, use Product Feedback for the product most closely related to your concerns.

You will not get a response by using "Feedback", but at least you can be certain that Apple will see your comments for consideration in future products or updates.

Cheers,
EZ

Jim

PowerBook 1.67 GHz w/Mac OS X (10.4.10) G5 DP 1.8 w/Mac OS X (10.5) External iSight

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