Watch what youre saying
Christina @ wointechchat .
com
Anew research paperfinds that video conferencing apps listen via the mic even when they appear to be muted.
Other participants cannot hear you, but your audio is still sent to the server.
Christina @ wointechchat . com
Muting your audio in a video conference call is good practice.
Nobody wants to hear the trash truck outside your window or the washing machine hitting its spin cycle.
But it turns out that our private conversations might get a lot further along before being silenced.
Sandra Tensdchert / Unsplash
The good news is that theres an easy fix.
Mic Drop
The problem is that the microphone never gets muted.
That is, the mic doesnt get muted at the input stage.
In some ways, it makes no differenceother meeting participants wont be able to hear your audio, regardless.
But in others, it makes all the difference.
This audio could also be used to identify what you are doing.
But mostly, the problem is trust.
In Fawazs research, respondents overwhelmingly assumed that mute meant mute, that their audio had been cut.
“I think companies need to be a little more transparent and upfront about these things.”
Mute Switch
As ever, it falls to the user to protect themselves.
Sandra Tensdchert / Unsplash
If youre using a laptops built-in microphone, you cant use a hardware cut-off.
You could leave this panel open during your call, but its still a pain.
Platform vendors could make this easier.
What we need is a system-wide, 100% trustworthy way to quickly mute all mic input.
Then, it wouldnt matter that the videoconferencing apps ignore our privacy.
Until then, youd be wise just to watch what you say.
