- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared a photo of himself celebrating Instagram’s 500M monthly active users
- The photo shows the camera and audio jack on Zuckerberg’s Macbook covered with pieces of tape
- Such strategy is common among high-profile people with hacking threats
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently posted a picture of himself on his Facebook page to celebrate an Instagram milestone of reaching 500 million monthly active users. This innocent photo inadvertently revealed the tech giant’s low-tech solution to protecting his privacy — using strips of tape.
In the photo posted on June 21, Zuckerberg is sporting a wide smile, holding a life-sized Instagram frame that reads: ‘Thanks to everyone in our community for helping us reach this milestone!’
It was eagle-eyed Twitter user Chris Olson who first noticed that the post showed Zuckerberg is just as paranoid about his privacy as everyone else.
Looking closely, a strip of black masking tape can be spotted on the left side, where the mic jack is located, of Zuckerberg’s Macbook and a clear tape blocking the built-in webcam at the top.
“When I first saw the photo I quickly noticed tape covering the camera,” Olson told the Huffington Post. “I’ve actually seen this technique used a decent amount of times and knew it was used as the last line of defense for someone hacking your camera.”
The strategy is not uncommon, especially among high-profile people who may be targeted by hackers. FBI director James Comey recently admitted to covering his computer’s webcam; arguing that “absolute privacy” has never existed in America, as per an article published by The Guardian.
In 2014, a UK privacy watchdog issued a warning about a Russian website that streams live footage from unsecured webcams around the world.
Olson said he may be following Zuckerberg’s cost-effective way of privacy protection: “After seeing someone like Mark, who leads a world-class technology company, I might just run down the street and pick some up.”