[wdmaudiodev] Re: Detecting and blocking microphone usage

  • From: "Matthew van Eerde" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "Matthew.van.Eerde" for DMARC)
  • To: "wdmaudiodev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <wdmaudiodev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2018 18:07:37 +0000

  *   They reported mic access was turned off



OK, this is consistent with our current theory – that they actually turned this 
off themselves, perhaps months or even years ago.



We’re working on making this policy a little more transparent, e.g. RS5 preview 
builds have a notification the first time microphone access is blocked.

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2018/06/06/announcing-windows-10-insider-preview-build-17686/

Privacy Improvements

We wanted to let you know that if access to the microphone has been disabled in 
your privacy settings, we’ll now pop a notification the first time an attempt 
to use the microphone is blocked so you can review the settings if desired.

[Notification showing “Your privacy settings blocked access to the microphone. 
Review these privacy 
settings”.]<https://blogs.windows.com/uploads/mswbprod/sites/2/2018/06/6bc9bb329e4a6f2aeab2db8e6b7603e6.png>



________________________________
From: wdmaudiodev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <wdmaudiodev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on 
behalf of Eugene Muzychenko <reg.wad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2018 10:57:04 AM
To: Matthew van Eerde
Subject: [wdmaudiodev] Re: Detecting and blocking microphone usage

Hello Matthew,

I could not reproduce such behavior in my systems but several users
reported that they had some audio recording endpoints working
perfectly prior to 1803 update, but all endpoints became inaccessible
after the update. I suggested them to check mic access page, and they
reported mic access was turned off.

Maybe these users really had built-in mic turned off, and the update
decided to propagate it to mic access policy. In such case, it should
not be performed silently because endpoints that were accessible
before the update, became inaccessible after, and there was no way to
reveal the cause.

Regards,
Eugene

  *   Feature name is confusing



That’s good feedback.



  *   1803 update often turns mic access off automatically



Are you sure? Every case I’ve seen has been a user who turned off
the microphone on a previous OS (back as far as Windows 8), then
relied on the imperfect implementation of the privacy control, until
eventually upgrading to April 2018 Update and then being confused
why the mic suddenly stopped working.



________________________________
From: wdmaudiodev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<wdmaudiodev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Eugene Muzychenko 
<reg.wad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2018 10:32:28 AM
To: Matthew van Eerde
Subject: [wdmaudiodev] Re: Detecting and blocking microphone usage

Hello Matthew,

Wasn't it better to name the feature "audio recording device access"
instead "microphone access", mentioning the microphone in the
description text? Current feature name is quite confusing, some users
of my product are wondering why it affects other recording lines.

And 1803 update often turns mic access off automatically, with no
prompt or even a warning. Does it performed intentionally too?

Regards,
Eugene


Definitely intentional.



________________________________
From: wdmaudiodev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<wdmaudiodev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Eugene Muzychenko 
<reg.wad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2018 6:21:52 AM
To: Matthew van Eerde
Subject: [wdmaudiodev] Re: Detecting and blocking microphone usage

Hello Matthew,

Windows supports the first two natively via Start > Settings >
Privacy > Microphone; I believe there are ways to set these via group 
policy as well

In fact, Windows blocks access not only to microphone endpoints, but
to all recording ones. Is it implemented intentionally, or there is a
bug?

Regards,
Eugene

******************

WDMAUDIODEV addresses:
Post message: mailto:wdmaudiodev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subscribe:
mailto:wdmaudiodev-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=subscribe
Unsubscribe:
mailto:wdmaudiodev-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe
Moderator:    mailto:wdmaudiodev-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

URL to WDMAUDIODEV page:
https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wdmaudiodev.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7CMatthew.van.Eerde%40microsoft.com%7C7120fb187a324c5bd34908d5d77a221a%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C1%7C636651841937170394&sdata=pCTH5ljHw0hjO2psDIOLzUEBTOjxkzmnVU4LC34JFHA%3D&reserved=0

******************

WDMAUDIODEV addresses:
Post message: mailto:wdmaudiodev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subscribe:
mailto:wdmaudiodev-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=subscribe
Unsubscribe:
mailto:wdmaudiodev-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe
Moderator:    mailto:wdmaudiodev-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

URL to WDMAUDIODEV page:
https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wdmaudiodev.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7CMatthew.van.Eerde%40microsoft.com%7C9a6f2fcef1554e0e027608d5d79d1b1c%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C636651992142093414&sdata=R2q9R82f7gqS7OJOxg30BUQJw1%2Be7aWNdGQ%2F07107Do%3D&reserved=0

******************

WDMAUDIODEV addresses:
Post message: mailto:wdmaudiodev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subscribe:    mailto:wdmaudiodev-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=subscribe
Unsubscribe:  mailto:wdmaudiodev-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe
Moderator:    mailto:wdmaudiodev-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

URL to WDMAUDIODEV page:
https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wdmaudiodev.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7CMatthew.van.Eerde%40microsoft.com%7Cbf63a05480404dcfcca208d5d7a08ead%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C636652006961536664&sdata=yfJu0XnOIkPtd5dvcJa6QYFkeLtcqnpnqpba64f0wQI%3D&reserved=0

PNG image

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. wdmaudiodev
  3. Archive
  4. 06-2018