Nope [1] is one pretty slick after-maket hardware 'switch' you can add to your webcam. Of course, some gaffer's tape works just as well, and costs a lot less (but doesn't look as slick). I don't have any such solution for the microphone, though.
[...] some gaffer's tape works just as well, and costs a lot less (but doesn't look as slick). I don't have any such solution for the microphone, though.
The microphone is a hard one. Even if you cover the holes in the casing where the mic is located the sound still travels just fine via the keyboard.
IIRC when a photo came out of Mark Zuckerberg covering his webcam I noticed he covered his mic port with tape as well. He should have checked the volume levels from his mic - it would still pick up everything just fine. In fact I think the tiny mic holes are mostly vestigial.
Or put a dummy plug in the headphone plug ? Such that it would activate the headphone mic without supplying audio. Cutting of all wires from an old plug would do.
Or a mic with its own volume control. This probably works but it could require writing code to test in on a phone, this is why:
My PC doesn't have a mic plug and the headphone one is only out, no in. With two mics (internal and USB) I can switch among them by software. I'm pretty sure I could do that with an analogue mic.
I wonder if an app could do the same on a phone, switching from the outside dummy mic to the internal one. You'll definitely notice that if you're calling somebody, but if the app only listens when no other app is using the mic, then it's easy to record audio most of the time.
I once was videocalling with my macbook on my lap, suddenly I couldn't be heard by the other party: I moved and my leg was covering the microphone hole. Problem is that the mic is still picking up sounds, just very attenuated.
Maybe a solution would be no integrated microphone, a small low profile microphone in the laptop box to be connected through the laptop mic jack.
Is there ever a need for a laptop microphone? I always have a headset or BT if I'm doing FaceTime or a confirm call... Why not just disable the hardware or at the OS level?
Depends on the make/model of computer - current MacBooks use a lot of glue to hold components together, making minor hardware tweaks a bit of a gamble. It's not impossible, just not as hassle-free as it used to be.
> or at the OS level
If your computer has a rootkit then doing it in software is no good.
[1] https://www.bungajungle.com/products/nope