Electrum asking for permission on "Screen Recording" !! (mac settings)

[bitpymnt]

Hi all,

While I am not new to BTC wallets, I am new to Electrum. I decided to start learning / using Electrum as the one of the few open source solutions not relying on any company that might fail or change it's behavior in the future.


Verified the files (using GPG) prior to installing, used Testnet for practicing, and when I was getting ready to really start using it with Main net, I saw a pop up on my mac asking whether I wanted to grant permissions to Electrum for screen recording (allowing the application to record the content of my screen and audio even when NOT using the app, see screenshot below). Is this something that should be expected? If yes, what is the use case for that??


https://i.imgur.com/k1Wy3Ip.png

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[jackg]

It's likely for handling and sporting bugs. I'd disable it though if you can (or leave it turned off) I doubt it's necessary, there's also the chance it's accidental or it's come from something else as the android one doesn't ask for that and the Windows version I have also didn't ask for microphone access.

[Husna QA]

-snip-  when I was getting ready to really start using it with Main net, I saw a pop up on my mac asking whether I wanted to grant permissions to Electrum for screen recording (allowing the application to record the content of my screen and audio even when NOT using the app, see screenshot below). Is this something that should be expected? If yes, what is the use case for that??


https://talkimg.com/images/2023/05/16/blob70a816f20ae4efe3.png

One of its functions is to record via the web camera or read the QR Code from the screen to fill in the address automatically in the 'Pay to' column in the Send menu.



I enabled the permission because I needed the feature.

Regarding audio, I don't think Electrum needs that access. macOS only groups with other applications that need access to the screen and audio, e.g. TeamViewer.




You can allow or not the Electrum to record content from the screen according to your needs.

[bitpymnt]

It makes sense. Thank you for replying! 

More comfortable now to continue exploring Electrum wallet.

[BitMaxz]

If I were you I suggest to disable it for privacy purposes and to protect your wallet and maybe other software will use the recorded data every time you are using Electrum which may lead to data leaks.
So disabling it or don't grant permission will protect your data, privacy, and wallet from any exploit.

[Pmalek]

As Husna QA pointed out, if you are not planning on using the QR scanning features of Electrum, you can just disable that permission. It's not going to affect your ability to send/receive bitcoin or use Electrum's coin control features. If you ever come to a point where you need to scan a QR code, try to remember that the permissions for that action need to be enabled first because it's not going to work. Your OS or the client might display an error message though, which will lead you to understand that a permission needs to be enabled in order to proceed.