Isn't the argument that a hardware indicator light is (more) immune to bugs? If its just software, you're a software exploit/bug away from finding a way to access the sensor without tripping the software light.
Yes but also this has never been an issue on any phones (i.e. never heard a complaint), and you take that to the toilet. By comparison a laptop camera has much less access to your private life.
People who are truly worried about cameras will cover it regardless of indicator.
I might be mis-remembering but wasn't Pegasus spyware able to bypass the camera indicator? Or was the issue that journalists were constantly seeing the light appear for no reason. I believe it was one of those.
This depends on how the light is implemented -- if it's implemented in the camera module itself it's pretty bulletproof, but i would bet it's just a gpio to the processor on most of these devices and controlled by the os anyway. I could be wrong about that, but I err on the side of caution. I keep my phone in a bag most of the time.
Treat every gun as if it's loaded, and every camera as if it's filming.
On modern Apple devices, the HW indicator light is wired directly between the power rail of the camera module and ground. Turning the camera on via software energizes the power rail. The only way that the camera is on and the led is not is if the led has burned out.
This is a "nothing-up-my-sleeves" implementation, it's not really possible to hide anything weird in the complexity. Apple clearly didn't just want a light that's always on when the camera is on, they wanted an implementation where they can point to it and clearly prove that the light is always on if the camera is on.
