New Windows 11 Feature Lets Users View Which Apps Accessed Their Camera, Phone, and Contacts

Windows 11 is getting additional privacy features from Microsoft.

Microsoft has stated that future releases of Windows 11 will have more security upgrades. These enhancements will reportedly offer improved encryption, provide additional protection against cybersecurity threats, and block malicious applications and drivers.

Just recently, Windows 11 added a new privacy feature that enables users to see a list of all the applications that have recently accessed their sensitive information and devices. These applications can include the user's camera, microphone, and contacts, which can be seen in the Privacy & Security section of the settings.

Windows 11 Feature

Microsoft's Windows 11 tightened privacy was included in one of the preview builds for Windows 11 released in June, and Windows Insiders may now put it through its paces in the Dev Channel.

In addition to keeping an eye on requests to access a user's contact list, the newly added privacy tool also keeps an eye on apps that have, in the past seven days, gotten access to sensitive information about a user's location, phone calls, messages, and screenshots.

According to BleepingComputer, users will be able to access the newly implemented feature in the Privacy & Security > App Permissions and there, a "Recent activity" button will be available. This will be the section where users will be able to find their tracked category of information.

Next, "Once clicked, it will display every instance of one of the apps installed on a user's system that has recently accessed sensitive devices and information."

However, even though the list contains details regarding the most recent time the application accessed the resource, clicking on any of the entries does not reveal any extra information.

With this additional layer of privacy, many users will be able to actively protect themselves from cyber-threat activities that are unknowingly deployed by malicious actors. In some instances, malware or malicious apps might be gaining access to a user's privacy through spying on the use of their camera or microphone, or through file paths, process IDs, and process names.

In their Windows Insider Blog, Microsoft has not yet officially released this new privacy feature. However, this announcement came from the tweet of Microsoft's Vice President for Enterprise and OS Security, David Weston, on Thursday.

In a tweet, Weston stated, "New Windows 11 Privacy Auditing features allow you to see history of sensitive device access like the Microphone."

Windows 11 Camera Settings

To enable the applications on Windows 11 to make use of the camera, users will need to activate certain rights inside the Camera settings. Users will need to check the permissions that are associated with each app. If there are certain applications accessing their camera that users do not feel comfortable with, they can disable the permission in the settings.

Here is how to do it, according to Microsoft:

• To enable access to the camera, go to the Start menu, then select Settings, followed by Privacy and Security, and finally Camera. Any user who has access to the device can use this setting to determine whether or not they want applications to have access to the camera.

• Ensure that the setting labeled "Let apps access your camera" is activated. With this feature, users can choose which of their apps can use the camera.

• After the user has given their app permission to utilize the camera, they can then begin to adjust the settings for each app after they have granted permission. Users can select the app that they want, then activate the camera access setting for that app.

However, users who do not see a certain program on the list should consider the possibility that the app in question is a desktop application. Users are unable to adjust the settings for camera access for individual desktop applications.