Q: Built-in iSight Activates (green light) regularly -- I'm not using it!

Jonathan_mm82 wrote:
Can anyone tell me how to determine what is accessing my built-in iSight camera? The green indicator light flashes on for about 4 sec every 10 minutes. I am not running anything that should be using it, no browser-based webapp chat, etc.

Your 4 second "flash" is probably nothing more than your Mac's OS polling the USB bus to monitor these services.

In addition to the good things you have already considered, you can check for:

 • System Preferences.... > Accounts > Login Items,

 • camera-capable widgets, and

 • camera-capable applications open in the Dock.

If you have verified the above and have not installed, activated, and authorized Apple Remote Desktop or some other software specifically designed to allow remote operation of your Mac, you can be confident that your webcam is not being used without your permission.

If you want to try more, consider the reset suggested in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2090 to see if that might stop the "flash". You might also want to test another user account to see if the problem is user account specific.

EZ Jim



Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz w/Mac OS X (10.6.2)  MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.2)

LED Cinema Display  G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11)  iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9)  External iSight