Disabling Camera in Ubuntu

In Ubuntu, you may want to disable the camera for privacy or security reasons. This can be done easily with a few commands in the terminal.

Using rmmod

The first method is to use the rmmod command to remove the kernel module responsible for handling the camera. To do this, open a terminal and enter the following command:

sudo rmmod uvcvideo

This will remove the uvcvideo kernel module, which is responsible for handling USB video devices including webcams. If you have an integrated webcam, you may also need to disable the video module:

sudo rmmod video

To re-enable the camera, you can load these modules again with the modprobe command:

sudo modprobe uvcvideo
sudo modprobe video

Blacklisting Modules

Alternatively, you can blacklist the uvcvideo module to prevent it from being loaded at boot time. To do this, create a new file in the /etc/modprobe.d/ directory:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-webcam.conf

Add the following line to the file:

blacklist uvcvideo

Save and close the file, then update the kernel module dependencies with the following command:

sudo update-initramfs -u

Reboot your system to apply the changes.

Conclusion

Disabling the camera in Ubuntu can help protect your privacy and security. Whether you prefer to remove the kernel modules or blacklist them, these methods are easy to do with a few simple commands in the terminal.