Date: April 13th, 2026 11:08 PM Author: insane institution
A cookie is just stored browser data, while camera access comes from web code calling the browser’s media APIs and the browser’s permission system. A website can run JavaScript and ask Safari for camera access. If you deny it, it should not get camera access through normal browser behavior.
Date: April 13th, 2026 11:19 PM Author: insane institution
Not typically. The browser will usually prompt you for permission, the media apis used for that access are permission gated. But the issue can be that there is not literally always a popup because it is a popup when the site does not already have permission and Safari is not set to Allow. If you previously allowed that site, or if Safari’s website camera setting is set to Allow, the site may be able to use the camera again without a fresh prompt.
Date: April 13th, 2026 11:11 PM Author: insane institution
another thing, on iphone Apple shows a green indicator when the camera is in use, and Control Center can show that camera or microphone was recently used. That makes covert camera use harder to hide at the OS level. you can also (on iphone) revoke an app’s camera access manually, without waiting for any new permissions popup. in privacy & security > camera, you can turn camera access on or off for any app that has requested it