The webcam light on my laptop just turned on - does this mean someone has hacked into my webcam?

I know some people are hyper-secure about this sort of thing and cover their webcam with tape or blu-tack... but is it really likely it's been hacked like this? What other reason would it have turned on for?

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Faust76 · 46-50, M

Old post, but 'cuz... It's a bit weird, if that was actually an issue, people should also have a dummy plug for their laptop/mobile phone's microphone jack, and those things barely even exist. Seems to me generally more likely people have given permission to some web-site or chat-app to use the camera, and it's running in the background. Then again, there's NO reason the web-cam should be on without the user's intention. I was incredulous at first, but apparently the light is separately controlled, so it doesn't necessarily even light up when the camera is used. Of course, if someone can turn the light on, they can also use the camera... so uhh, cover it. And see if you're using virus/malware scanner. And you probably can't get a microphone-plug :p