Android 11 to offer more permission control for microphone and camera access

These days, as technology advances, security and privacy protection is getting more and more important. Apps gain more capabilities and therefore, give people with malicious intentions countless possibilities to spy on us or sell our information. Luckily, Google has introduced, with Android 10, the option to grant location access to apps only when the app is in use and not in the background.

Now, Android Central reports that Android 11 will bring more security to camera and microphone access too. Reportedly, the new Android will provide the possibility to grant access to your mic and camera to apps only while they are running, and not in background, or if you prefer, you can give them one-time only permissions.



So, after you close your Instagram or Snapchat, the app won’t be able to have access to your microphone or camera until you open it once again. In the one-time permission scenario, when you open the app again, it will ask you for permissions, while with the “while in use” permission, it won’t prompt for your answer again.

This is useful given the fact that we don’t even know what some apps may be doing in the background or whether some malware is abusing our mics and cameras. Although Google Play verifies all apps, sometimes malware can get through Google’s protective measures. It can even be included in another app, that looks legitimate, that downloads malware additionally, as was, for example, the case with the xHelper virus. Regardless, more permission control in upcoming Android versions can never be a bad thing.