Very serious security problem.

[christian1789]

"I’m using the presence detector in Microsoft Windows 11, which utilizes the PC’s camera to detect me, but the camera’s activity LED does not turn on. Therefore, there’s a privacy issue.

[NonSequitur777]

@christian1789,

Welcome to our HP Community forum!

In general, the camera activity LED should illuminate when the camera is actively in use, indicating that video or images are being captured or processed.

However, with Windows 11 Presence Sensing, the LED may not turn on even when the camera is being used for presence detection. This is because presence detection primarily focuses on sensing movement or changes in proximity rather than actively recording video or capturing images. Microsoft's documentation clarifies that the camera LED is expected to remain off when no image metadata is being transmitted to the operating system.

This means it's possible that the presence detection system is working as intended without illuminating the LED. However, it's still worth checking your privacy settings within Windows 11 to ensure you have control over which applications can access your presence sensor. You can access these settings by navigating to Settings > Privacy & security > Presence Sensing.

In addition, consider these points:

1. Hardware implementation: The specific behavior of the camera LED can vary depending on the hardware implementation of the presence sensor in your device.
2. Software functionality: Presence sensing primarily focuses on detecting presence and engagement, which may not always require active video recording that would typically trigger the LED.
3. Microsoft's approach: Microsoft's aim is to minimize image data transmission and processing, reducing the need for the LED to be constantly on during presence detection: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/component-guidelines/sensors-presence-sens....

Conclusion: No Privacy Violation Occurring:

• The standard Windows Hello webcam does trigger the LED when actively used (e.g., logging in).

• But human presence sensing (HPS) relies on a dedicated proximity sensor or low-power neural processing, which doesn’t route through the same imaging pipeline as the webcam.

• Therefore, the camera LED remains off, because the actual camera isn't being used.

---

What You Can Do:

If you’re still uncomfortable:

• Go to Settings → Privacy & security → Presence sensing

  • Toggle off options like:

    • “Automatically lock my device when I leave”

    • “Automatically wake my device when I approach”

• Or disable the feature entirely in Device Manager under Human Presence Sensor (if listed).

---

Bottom Line:

The presence detector does not activate the camera or its LED because it uses a separate, privacy-respecting sensor designed for this purpose. Your webcam remains off unless explicitly in use.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777