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Comment by fragmede | Hacker News Reader

The JavaScript function Media devices.getUserMedia() will do this, and also includes screen sharing possibilities. It will ask the user for permission first but in a test situation, there's high pressure to accept those permissions or fail the test.

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What if you don't have a webcam? Most desktop computers don't come with a webcam. If you were warned in advance, you could buy or borrow one, but not if it came as a surprise.

They don't allow you to take the test without the camera. I had to retake the test someother day for Amzn by borrowing laptop. If I remember right microphone should be turned on too.

How about a physical webcam blocker so all you get is a black screen?

I see. Okay. So we need to patch that funtion to make them think it's working. I wonder if there's an extension for that.

Unless you could substitute a realistic facsimilie of yourself answering the question, you would probably simply be treated as if you had declined to take the test, or be suspected of attempting to cheat. No-one who uses Hackerrank is going to spend any time trying to figure out whether they should consider you as a viable candidate, they will just move on to the next.

> Unless you could substitute a realistic facsimilie of yourself answering the question

Sounds great. Maybe some harmless pre-recorded loop. Whatever it takes to defeat their surveillance. Also I bet someday someone will come up with some AI thing to generate that video feed...

Just set up a fake webcam

Will that work with screen shots and screen sharing?

They are giving you javascript which executes on your machine in a browser you control. You can override those APIs do do whatever you want. In my teens, this would probably have served up goatse. Now it's likely to get a picture of a stick figure labeled with my name. They might get upset about defeating the webcam. They probably won't hire you. Whether you can afford to stand up to surveillance as the norm depends on your personal views and financial situation.

Should be similar, but you might need to set up some hacks to spoof the browser in thinking it's the screen.

https://testrtc.com/manipulating-getusermedia-available-devi...

No, but other client-side measures could.

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