Whatever related to personal privacy and security in the computer systems we utilize at the moment is something basic for many users. For all of this, Windows install anti-viruses and take certain safety measures to protect your computer systems and data against possible attacks.
But what you need to bear in mind is that these can reach us by means that we do not even expect, as we will reveal you here. One of the terrific concerns that afflict us on computers these days is identity theft or data that jeopardizes us in some way. And here we are not only discussing infections and so forth, considering that the damage can concern us in other ways. The components that we are going to talk about at this time act as an example.
Specifically, we describe two elements that either come pre-installed on the PC, or we install them ourselves later on. We refer to something as common as the web cam and the microphone, something that most of us have actually set up on our PC They are two hardware elements that we normally use regularly, more in these times. If this is not the case, as it likewise occurs in numerous cases, we might be interested in blocking them, more than anything for security and personal privacy.
How to obstruct the cam in Windows
To begin, we will discuss the web cam that many of us have on the group. It might be the case that we have actually linked among these through USB to the PC, or that it is currently integrated into it. This is something more than usual in the majority of laptops. Something that maybe many of these users have not believed is that this built-in webcam can equate into a substantial security breach in our gadget.
This is something that might substantially affect our personal privacy, so if we do not use it usually, we need to understand that it is possible to block it in Windows 10 We can do this due to the fact that today there are numerous strategies and kinds of malware that can control our cam without our approval. For all this, it is convenient to take measures so that no one can spy on us through it without us discovering. It is evident that this would threaten both our personal privacy and our security in the daily with the equipment
Block web cam in Windows 10 from Settings
We have numerous ways to perform this that we talk about, obstruct the webcam in Windows10 The first of them is from the System Setup application, a section that we access through the Win I key mix. In the window that appears, we went with the Privacy option.
As soon as in the window that appears, on the left side of it we go to the Permissions area of the application where we choose the Electronic Camera Now we only need to go to the option to Allow applications to access the camera, a selector that we shut down.
On the other hand, you have to know that when you decrease a bit in this same window, we discover the alternative to Select which Microsoft Store applications can access the cam. From here, we can activate or shut off which applications can or can not access the video camera. As you can imagine, this will allow us to define more particularly the programs that will have the ability to gain access to this element, and those that will not. In this way we will have a lot more control in this section of personal privacy. State that we can do the exact same with desktop applications in this same window.
Lock the Cam from Device Manager
Another way to do this is discovered in the Gadget Manager, an area that we access by right-clicking on the Start menu. As soon as we access this area that we comment on, we will see on the screen a list with the devices set up on the PC These are arranged in different sections, so in this case we have to search for one called Cameras, where we double click to show its material.
It will be here where we will see the design of the web cam that we have set up, so we right-click on that name. Next, in the drop-down menu that appears, we no longer have to choose the Characteristics choice, so that in the Controller tab we click on Disable device.
Disable webcam with third-party programs
As we have actually seen, this is a cam locking procedure that we can quickly perform in Windows itself. It is likewise something that we can bring out with third-party applications An example of all this is the program called Riot Isolator that we can download from this link To state that this is a free application that provides us with a menu of 4 alternatives of different kinds.
From it we can do a safe format of the PC, to name a few things. What interests us is found in the Tool kit option, where we see that we have the possibility to avoid unauthorized screenshots. In this method, what we achieve is to avoid remote control of the web cam.
We discover something similar with the WebCam On-Off program that we can download from here Hence, as its name suggests, we can likewise control the activation and deactivation of this element in an easy way.
How to disable the microphone in Windows 10
In case we also want to deactivate the microphone that we have set up on the computer system, we also have several ways to do it in Windows
Disable the microphone from Settings
As we informed you prior to with the case of the web cam, we can also do if we describe this other element. Therefore, we open the Windows Settings window again through the Win I crucial mix, and then go to the Personal privacy section. In the left panel we find the entry called Microphone, where we discover a selector that reads Enable applications to access the microphone, something that we shut down.
As happened with the webcam, if we go down a bit in this very same window, we will see that we likewise have the possibility to select the applications that can use this element. In this manner we manage more the use of the microphone in Windows but separately. This is something we do for both UWP and Win32
Disable the microphone from Device Supervisor
As we have seen formerly, the Redmond operating system allows us to trigger and shut off hardware aspects extremely easily. Regarding the microphone that worries us at the minute, this is something that we can also do from the Device Supervisor.
To do this once again, we click the right mouse button on the Start menu and open this element. Now what we need to find in the section called Audio inputs and outputs, which we display. Here we will see the input representing the microphone, which is the one that interests us in this case.
Therefore, in order to deactivate it, we only need to click on it with the secondary button and choose the choice to Disable gadget.
