In the Settings app under Security and Privacy > Privacy controls, there will be “Camera access” and “Microphone access,” with Details like the front camera and internal microphone are noted by ChromeOS. This determines “access for apps and websites with the camera [or microphone] permission.”
When these controls are toggled off and a website attempts to access, you’ll get a system ChromeOS notification to “On-ramp for the microphone access? — All programs and websites with the microphone permission will now have access to the microphone.” You can quickly unlock by tapping the button.
Camera and microphone access are rolling out to Chromebooks in the stable channel “later this year,” but you can find it in beta already. We can only hope that Google will move these toggles to Quick Settings, just like it did with Android 12+. Given that physical switches to disable access are available on some devices, such as the Framework Chromebook, it makes sense that camera shutters would continue to be in demand.
Today, Google also released additional security updates for Chromebooks geared toward business settings. Copy/paste, screenshots, video recordings, screen sharing, and printing can all be blocked by administrators using ChromeOS Data Controls. This is currently available to everyone.
New integrations include:
- Monitor ChromeOS devices with CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR
- Monitor login and logout, Chrome Remote Desktop and local USB activity within your preferred SIEM tool with the Security Insights and Reporting connector
- Enable Azure Active Directory Conditional Access for ChromeOS devices through Netskope Intelligent SSE and Microsoft Defender with the Identity and Access Connector