when apple introduced new spaceblack macbooks, i was curious to see if it was possible to replicate the shade and reflection properties of this metallic color. a couple of test runs later the results are looking great. see for yourself!
spaceblack designs look great as camera covers, too.
in case you'd like us to add a spaceblack version of one of our designs, please hit reply and let me know.
thank you for shopping small and your support!
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making neon orange designs has been a blast. screens don't quite convey how stunning acid colors look in real life.
in case you'd like us to add a neon version of one of our designs, hit reply and let us know.
thank you, and happy autumn!
]]>Apple has rolled out a software update for iPhones and iPads in response to the discovery of a significant security flaw. Installing this update is essential for safeguarding your device against spying attacks.
The security vulnerability was identified by researchers from the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, who have reported that hackers are "actively exploiting" this weakness. As a precautionary measure, all users are strongly advised to update their devices immediately.
Hackers are breaking into devices via the commercial software Pegasus, developed and sold by the Israeli company called NSO Group. This allows them to activate the cameras, microphone, and access data saved on the devices. Pegasus is a sophisticated and targeted surveillance tool that has historically been used against specific individuals such as activists, journalists, and politicians. These individuals are typically more aware of their security risks, making it crucial for them to stay vigilant and update their devices promptly.
According to an article published in the Independent, a member of the staff at a US-based civil society organization with a global presence fell victim to the latest cyber-attack, as reported by Citizen Lab. This new exploit, named BLASTPASS, is particularly dangerous because it doesn't require any user interaction on their iPhone.
Over the past years, Apple and the NSO Group have been engaged in an ongoing battle to identify and rectify security vulnerabilities that could potentially enable the delivery of such malicious software.
Recent iPhone updates have introduced a "Lockdown Mode" designed to fortify the device's security by imposing additional restrictions. For instance, it prevents the automatic downloading of images that might contain spyware, which was the method used in this most recent security breach.
Security breaches do happen, unfortunately, that's why we recommed covering the cameras on your devices with CamTag.
]]>it was not an easy task, but we finally managed to emulate the color tone of spacegray macbooks. although the reflection properties between the printed color and anodized aluminum are slightly different, the result looks great.
enjoy 20% off spacegray, silver and luminescent designs all weekend!
pick your favorites and apply the discount code SPACEGRAY20 at checkout.
can't find a spacegray version of a design on our website?
please let us know via our contact form.
tabtag is adhesive free! apply, remove and reuse tabtag without leaving residue.
]]>this will be our biggest sale of the year, so now's your chance to stock up! choose your favorites and apply the discount BLACKFRIDAY at checkout.
we're adding luminescent laptop stickers and privacy stickers to our shop!
]]>granted, it has been a while since our last newsletter. we value your time and only send updates when we have exciting things to share:
we've experimented a lot in the past months. we played with special colors and switched to a dye cutting machine that cuts more accurately than ever before. silver CamTag privacy stickers not only look gorgeous, they are spot on!
we added new silver tabtag designs as well, so you can decorate your devices without having to worry about residue in case you want to remove these adhesive free stickers and apply them somewhere else.
macbooks equipped with a glowing apple logo are disappearing, unfortunately. that's why we're offering all glowing tabtag designs at half price. we stopped making them, so get one while the stock lasts.
]]>tabtag artist plugyou did it again! a big fan himself, he created a collection of his favorite superheroes.
now available as reusable laptop stickers and privacy decals.
plugyou is a philadelphia-based product designer with over 15 years of experience in all things procrastinating, and a soft spot for illustration; in particular pop-culture references and characters.
we are thrilled he created some really fun illustrations available as reusable laptop stickers and privacy decals.
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according to an article published in forbes social media app tiktok has been able to access information users copied to the clipboard, posing a serious privacy risk. countless other apps have been caught abusing users' privacy as well.
apple recently fixed the clipboard vulnerability issue, underlining the importance of protecting one's privacy.
a number of kickstarter backers asked for CamTag designs in plain colors. i made a few color sets including black and white and hope you like them.
with the rise of google, facebook and amazon in recent years private companies are implementing surveillance and data collection technologies at a faster pace than governments are able to regulate them.
i wrote a blog post based on articles published in the guardian including a dystopian short film that made me more aware of the extent to which our data is being collected.
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The Guardian and 16 other media organizations brought to light that spyware sold by the surveillance company NSO, Pegasus, has been abused by authoritarian governments to target activists, journalists, and politicians globally.
Pegasus is a malware that allegedly can be secretly installed on a targeted phone with just a missed call, enabling to access photos, emails, turn on your cameras, record calls and activate microphones. This makes it more invasive and dangerous than the algorithms of Google, Amazon and Facebook, turning our phone into a spy in our pocket. Spyware as powerful as Pegasus not only threatens the user of each smart-phone, it puts their social, political and economical connections and democracy itself in danger.
A massive data leak contains a list of about 50,000 phone numbers of potential targets identified by NSO’s clients like the governments of Hungary, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Mexico and India. NSO claims to only sell their surveillance technology to governments that have been carefully vetted for their human rights record and for the purpose of tracking terrorists an criminals. Looking at some of the clients one might ask who decides over who these terrorists and criminals are.
In a recent interview with the Guardian whistleblower Edward Snowden states:
The technology cannot be rolled back, technology is not going anywhere … it is going to be cheaper, it is going to be more effective, it is going to be more available. If we do nothing, we sort of sleepwalk into a total surveillance state where we have both a super state that has unlimited capacity to apply force with an unlimited ability to know and [therefore be able to] target [that] force – and that’s a very dangerous combination … This is the direction of the future.
Surveillance technology cannot be rolled back, but it needs to be regulated and legislated. Only social pressure caused by informed citizens has the power to force governments into political action to create the legal boundaries necessary to protect democracy.
it's this time of year: sunshine, holidays, beach, ice cream... sweet!
to make things even sweeter we just started our summer sale.
enter SUMMER21 for a sweet 50% discount all weekend.
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after watching this short film on how much data private companies are able to gather about you (data that we willingly give them in some cases), you might be forgiven for thinking that, never mind some far flung future, we are living in a full-on dystopia right now. - jason kottke
with the rise of google, facebook and amazon in the past twenty years private companies are implementing surveillance and data collection technologies at a faster pace than governments are able to regulate them. these companies are accumulating an unprecedented amount of user data, making huge profits off behavioral monitoring, analysis, targeting and prediction. dr. shoshana zuboff coined this undemocratic, exploitative and little understood practice surveillance capitalism. this new form of exploitation doesn’t only monitor our private lives, it aims to shape, predict, direct and control every aspect of our everyday life.
we are no longer anonymous citizens. not only is our online behavior being traced, we are increasingly recorded on video and audio. while china is the global leader in video surveillance and facial recognition, observing and rating the behavior of their citizens, london has installed an estimated 420.000 CCTV cameras making it a test case for facial recognition in democracies. police and fire departments in the united states have partnered with amazon’s controversial ring camera network.
with tech giants insisting that their technology is too complex to be legislated while billions are spent in lobbying against transparency and privacy regulations, dr. zuboff makes a point that we and future generations must step up to the colossal challenge of breaking down this framework of total control – that is polarising world-views, increasing fundamentalism, and nurturing echo chambers and distrust – and work on a better future.
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during my career as a designer i have always been fascinated by gradients and the three dimensional effects that can be created with them.
minimal design is yet another passion of mine, so i created six new black and white gradient designs, available both as adhesive-free laptop stickers and privacy stickers.
i just added a shop-wide volume discount that allows you to buy any combination of designs and products at a discount of up to 50%.
this is an experiment and i don't know for how long it will be running, so seize this opportunity to stock up on your macbook decals and privacy stickers.
buy | save |
2 | - 10 % |
3 | - 20 % |
4 | - 30 % |
5 | - 40 % |
6 | - 50 % |
as of today, you can choose between shipping with or without tracking.
without tracking / with tracking |
to austria € 1 / € 4 |
worldwide € 2 / € 5 |
thank you for your support and happy summer!
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since the revelations by whistle-blower edward snowden it is well known that intelligence agencies are engaging in surveillance on a global scale by activating other people’s cameras and recording them without their knowledge or consent.
remote access trojans (RAT) have been used for over two decades to gain control over stranger's cameras and spy on them.
even cameras built in apple’s macbooks that allegedly couldn’t be turned on without activating the indicator light were hacked, disabling the indicator light while the camera was recording.
many apps ask for permission to access the cameras on your phone or tablet. this means that these apps can secretly take photos or record you.
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during our kickstarter campaign many backers wished for mixed design sets. we heard you and put together a few more.
what design sets would you like us to add? we'd love to hear your ideas.
just drop us a line here.
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black lives matter – systemic racism unfortunately seems ingrained in our societies. too many black lives have been lost already.
stop asian hate – violent attacks on asian americans are on the rise since the start of the pandemic. from verbal attacks based on misinformation to physical violence, there have been thousands of reported cases recently.
we are against racism and discrimination of any kind. help spread the message with these macbook stickers!
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developing a new product until it is ready to hatch takes longer than one might expect, especially during challenging times like the ones we all are currently facing.
together with our local manufacturing partner we have been testing alternative production methods to further improve our glue-free stickers. the results are very promising and we will share them with you soon.
since our crowdfunding campaign last spring we finished producing and sending all rewards to our backers. we are happy to announce that CamTag is now available on our website.
we created new designs and will keep adding more on a regular basis.
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Thank you for your patience and great feedback so far! I am glad that most of you are happy with their CamTags.
Hopefully, by now all of you have received their CamTags and had the chance to try them out. In case you haven't received your reward yet, please write me via the contact form to find out what might have gone wrong and solve it.
First, please make sure the camera on your devices is clean and dry. There shouldn't be any residues of cleaning detergent or alcohol left on the surface, because they might attack the adhesive film of CamTag and diminish the adhesion qualities.
Second, please apply and hold your CamTag for a few seconds so that the micro-suction cups on the adhesive film can do their magic and adhere themselves well.
Unfortunately, new products sometimes show irregularities even after heavy testing. My production partner and I tried out many different printing techniques and protection layers in order to ensure CamTags look great even after heavy usage. Due to the manual application of the transparent protection layer it might be thicker on some CamTags than on others. We are currently testing an alternative production method to solve this issue once and for all.
In case some of your CamTag designs look scratched or started to fade, please write me via the contact form.
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Hopefully this update finds you healthy and happy despite the challenging global circumstances.
The past month felt a little bit like a retreat. I spent every morning putting CamTags into envelopes and printing address labels, and every evening packing CamTags into their packaging while listening to an Italian podcast. I'm not so sure how good my Italian is at this point, but I'm happy to tell you that I managed to pack and send out all your rewards by the end of November.
In the past weeks I have received great feedback from those of you who already got their CamTags – thank you so much – while others have been asking about when they'd receive their rewards. During the ever shifting global circumstances caused by the pandemic it is not easy for me to estimate delivery dates. I sent out all rewards via priority mail, so in theory they should arrive anywhere in the world within 2 weeks.
Please bear with me as I will do my best to ensure that all of you receive their CamTag rewards, one way or the other.
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hopefully, you and your loved ones are doing fine during these uncertain and challenging times.
we are back with our black friday sale! seize the opportunity to get all our tabtag designs on our shop for 2 for 1 before the end of the month. just enter 20BF2FOR1 during checkout.
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Hopefully, this update finds you well and healthy during these unsteady times.
Here in Vienna, the past weeks have been rather crazy, the city suffered a terrorist attack the day before entering its second lock-down.
While I do have an amazing production partner, tabtag is a one-man show and I am packing and shipping out your rewards full-time from home. It feels like running a marathon :)
Some of you have already received their CamTags and so far feedback has been great!
I am confident that I will be able to pack and send out all remaining rewards via priority mail by the end of this month. It is very humbling that you are eager to receive and try out your CamTags, however, please consider the extreme challenges we all are facing and bear with me for just a few more weeks.
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CamTag is coming together well. We are busy producing and packing and will start shipping out your rewards in a week. In case you moved you can update your shipping information until October 19th.
A couple of months ago we published an update asking you to fill in a small survey in order to verify your reward, choose your design(s) and introduce your shipping address. There you can also upgrade your pledge level or add additional items to your existing pledge.
Most of you have completed your survey via Crowd Ox, thank you! If you haven't filled it in yet, please do so at your earliest convenience. In case you haven't received it, please check your spam folder. It is necessary that you complete your survey in order for us to be able to produce and send your rewards.
We are excited to bring you CamTag!
]]>We had to push back production a bit due to COVID caused delays as we were waiting for some of the required material to arrive. However, now production is on the way and we are confident that we will be able to start sending out your rewards in October.
Before we start shipping out your rewards we will publish another update giving you a time-window to update your shipping information in case it changed.
]]>Most of you completed the survey you received via Crowd OX. Thank you! In case you haven't completed your survey yet, please do so as soon as possible. We need this so that we can produce and send your rewards.
We are glad that 80% of the surveys we sent out last week have been completed. Thank you!
If you haven't completed your survey yet, please do so as soon as possible, so that we can bring CamTag into your hands.
Last weekend several news outlets published articles about a warning Apple published on their support page. Apple warns MacBook owners to remove camera coverings before closing their laptop.
Apple states that camera covers:
We are happy to let you know that CamTag lives up to Apple's recommendations.
CamTag privacy stickers are:
We tested several versions of our glue-free adhesive film and found the 0.1mm thin version to be the best combination of thinness and robustness. In over two years of development we did our best to make sure that CamTag doesn't fold/break and looks great even after heavy usage. For those of us who don't want to rely on the MacBook's green indicator light, CamTag remains one of the most elegant and safe ways to protect our privacy.
Thanks to you and 1450 backers CamTag will become a reality. Your support gives us the chance to design, develop and manufacture the best possible product. Without you this wouldn't be possible. So please receive our most heartfelt thank you!
What happens next?
In case someone you know missed CamTag on Kickstarter, please tell them not to worry, they can pre-order on Indiegogo InDemand via camtag.co. Of course we will first manufacture and send out your reward before fulfilling any incoming pre-orders.
]]>our time on kickstarter is almost over. on thursday at 11:59pm CET our campaign will end. thank you so much for being part of this journey and making it such an exciting and fun experience!
next steps:
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many of you sent us messages and comments asking for a set of CamTags, that includes different designs within one set. we are happy to tell you that we will offer a CamTag – Mixed Design Set as an additional design option. all 25 CamTags within this set will have a different design.
please note, that the CamTag – Mixed Design Set is only available including 25 designs from our design collection. this does not include custom designs. so far we have revealed 20 designs, but will soon reveal more designs for you to choose your 5 new favorites from.
when the kickstarter ends we will send you a survey where you can choose the CamTag – Mixed Design Set among the design options.
if we unlock our third stretch goal and reach 1000 backers, the CamTag – Design Collection will not only contain 20 sets with one design each, but 25.
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thanks to amazing persons like you we have reached 600 backers on kickstarter!
the first week has been an amazing ride thanks to you! every day, exciting new products are launched on kickstarter. help us keep CamTag at the top of the list by spreading the word...
let's unlock the third stretch goal and add 5 new designs! when the time comes, I will create a poll where you can pick your 5 new favorites.
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