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In light of stories about stories about secret monitoring over laptop webcams (such as this one or this one), I wonder about the reliability of the green LED next to the camera that indicates that it's in use.

Is there a known hard-wired link between the camera on a MacBook Pro and the indicator that is impossible to circumvent in software?

Would such a thing be possible given the hardware of the camera?

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Wish I knew. I keep a bit of removable tape over mine just in case (though that's more for situations where I might accidentally turn the camera on, like during a Skype call). – Matthew Frederick May 24 '11 at 19:14

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Correct. It is not possible for someone to disable this. When the logic board or LCD panel fail, or sometimes after a severe power outage, this light can get stuck on, requiring hardware service, or a reset of certain components. Keep the tape if you like, but the techs will knowingly shake their head and chuckle.

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[citation needed] – Doug Harris Jun 6 '11 at 18:42

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