My privacy is as valuable to me.
Even those that used to tape over webcams (some started doing so after the Snowden revelations in '13) gave up on that during the pandemic, due to video call after video call and "webcam taping fatigue". Webcam shutters in non-business laptops would be great. :D
Audio is another beast and way harder to solve, as there is no tape or (cheap) shutter that can really block a microphone, and physical disconnects are probably not a feature in most customers eyes, as they have no optical feedback, like webcam shutters. So they could, to most people, maybe only be a source of "why does my audio not work - ah, the stupid button" frustration. :/
No. Can you provide evidence.
Because that would imply that applications are routinely bypassing OS security controls. Which at least on a Mac requires a sophisticated compromise i.e. the camera light is directly linked to the camera itself via an independent subsystem.
They've admitted it themselves. Not sure about microphones.
On iOS there is an orange/green dot in the menu bar that indicates when the microphone or camera are in active use. The dot appears when you try and use say the Live feature but at all other times it does not appear.
My point still stands that unless apps have compromised iOS/OSX it is NOT true to say that the camera/microphone are always on.
The tape, however, is probably about really making completely sure he doesn't accidentally show video on a call or videoconference when he didn't mean to.
Video could easily reveal even his approximate location (via shadows and such), and that could potentially lead to deriving, say, that he's working on an acquisition or talks with another company, leading to stock manipulation/speculation and so on.
Zuckerburg has been taping webcam/microphones/etc for a while now. Though being the CEO of a major corporation requires you take privacy more seriously.
https://www.macworld.com/article/228326/mic-drop-how-to-keep...