i think soon somebody can spy on you with the camera of your cell phone. hahahahah

I'm a little paranoid when it comes to that as well, so I always cover the camera on my laptop with white tape, just in case someone hacks into my camera without my knowledge. With the technology these days, everything is possible. I too do not allow any app to access my camera. If it does ask for permission, I cancel it and just uninstall it right away.

Probably. In the Android Play store when you DL an app, it will list the permissions that you are giving to the app. The most hated permission for me is the camera permission which says the camera can be activated at any time without my knowledge or consent. I avoid those apps.

You are literally giving the app permission to photography you anywhere anytime. Really? I could be in the bathroom, dressing or having "fun". And I'm going to say OK just to get a free app? I check my applications frequently to make sure the camera permission has not crept in somewhere.

For example, I noticed the latest Chrome mobile browser update has now included camera access in it's long list of permissions. I declined to install the update because of this and use a different browser. I mean really, my BROWSER NEEDS TO USE MY CAMERA WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE OR PERMISSON????
REALLY???

I may go back to Apple over this.

I've heard of software that turns on the webcam on computers, but how about cell phones?
Has anyone ever heard of this happening?

I would imagine that this could work in theory assuming the phone has a data connection. If not video then maybe the camera can take pics remotely.