These days, most laptops are equipped with a webcam module, that contains a camera and a microphone. This is especially handy for people who often make video calls with their laptop. But what if you just don’t need it?
Privacy concerns
The main reason why some people don’t want to have a camera and microphone installed in their laptop is because of privacy concerns. Especially with operating systems that have a bad reputation when it comes to privacy. It would be better not to have a webcam than to keep watching that little dot. It just feels uncomfortable that it is technically possible to let the operating system – or even the firmware – forward your camera images and microphone records. You just want to avoid that, right? Back in October 2022, Microsoft data breach exposed sensitive data of 65,000 companies. Microsoft has shown quite often that it doesn’t really care about the privacy of its users. Being a closed-source operating system doesn’t really help to take away the users’ privacy concerns. Quite the opposite, Windows users don’t know what data Microsoft transfers to their servers and to their third parties.
But even if you are using an open-source operating system such as GNU/Linux, it would still be better to be on the safe side. You will get a safer feeling if you don’t have a webcam module integrated in your laptop.
NovaCustom offers custom laptops with many options, including privacy options. One of these privacy options is to let us remove the webcam module (also called CCD module) permanently. This way, you will have a laptop without any integrated microphone or camera at all.
Laptop with no webcam module – is it worth it?
Whether such a laptop is worth it for you depends on your needs. It also depends on your concerns. If you are concerned about your privacy and you are OK with connecting an external webcam if you ever need it, it’s totally worth it. It would be less valuable if you need your webcam every day. A laptop with no camera and microphone is something to choose before buying a laptop.
Camera LED
If you are still in doubt if you want a webcam module integrated into your new laptop, you can consider to buy a laptop from NovaCustom. All the models that we currently offer have a camera LED that will light-up if the camera is active. That being said, the microphone has no connection with this LED.
