Your computer microphone still listens even on mute – Try this trick

Kim Komando ^ | 16 April 2022 | Charlie Fripp

[ShadowAce]

[Red Badger]

Try THIS trick!......................

[ShadowAce]

LOL!

[Mr. K]

I like the way you solve all the individual, simple to complex problems, in windows:

“My computer listens when muted”
“switch to Linux”

“I got the blue screen of death”
“switch to Linux”

“My app is running slow”
“switch to Linux”

“I have a funny smell coming from my keyboard”
“switch to Linux”

“My butt itches”
“switch to Linux”

It is great that all I have to do to help gramma with her computer problems can be summed up that way, and then she can do all kinds of neat things like:

mkdir -p movies/2004/
cp -r dir_to_copy/ new_copy_dir/
rm file_to_copy.txt
chmod +x script
sudo apt install gimp

[Red Badger]

Works across all models, platforms and Operating Systems...............

[PGR88]

Most people assume that muting their computer’s microphone gives them total privacy.

People should assume, at all times, that anything on an Apple, Microsoft, Google device offers ZERO privacy.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Bump for reference.

[ShadowAce]

This is not an OS issue.

[Bob434]

LOL Don’t temp me :)

[Mr. K]

But the solution is?

[Bob434]

or grandma can just click on software manager, and look for gimp and click a button and install it

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

bkmk

[ShadowAce]

Read the article. It should take about 1.5 minutes.

[Pollard]

While the researchers didn’t name the specific applications that do this, they strongly hint that it is most video and conference call apps.

I don't use video/call apps. I have microphone muted via the button on the laptop as well as in settings.

[Yo-Yo]

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered that your device’s microphone continues to listen even after hitting the mute switch.

While the researchers didn’t name the specific applications that do this, they strongly hint that it is most video and conference call apps. In a blog post, the study claims that all the apps they tested “occasionally gather raw audio data while mute is activated.”

It took a real Einstein to figure this one out. Mute your mic while in a Teams or Zoom meeting, then say something. On your screen the words "Your Mic Is Muted" appear. Gee, if the mic isn't listening to you while the mic is muted, how did the program know you were speaking?

The "mute" while in a video call is only muting audio going to the other participants. It isn't muting the audio going to your own computer.

[Tell It Right]

It's for this very reason that I use USB mic and camera, easily plugged into a USB hub with push-button disconnects like this one.

[broken_clock]

[Mr. K]

Is the answer “swith to linux”???

:)

I am just giving you a hard time, bud. I use both Linux and Windows every day.

Linux has been superior in every way EXCEPOT user interface.

Why someone has not come up with one that mimics windows I don’t understand.

[z3n]

It took a real Einstein to figure this one out. Mute your mic while in a Teams or Zoom meeting, then say something. On your screen the words “Your Mic Is Muted” appear. Gee, if the mic isn’t listening to you while the mic is muted, how did the program know you were speaking?

~~~

I don’t know this for a fact, but I would imagine it’s a lot easier for software developers to simply interrupt the digital audio feed in the software itself than to tell the OS to mute the device. In fact, it makes sense that the OS would not want to allow software to do this. What if you have other software that still need access to the hardware?