The problem with software-controlled permissions is that nation-state actors (who have unbounded resources) can snoop on your private matters with significantly greater ease.

At least with a hardware switch, someone would have to physically intercept the air waves in the room you're in. In software, the surface for OS-level vulnerabilities is massive, and state sponsored mass surveillance just gets easier.

Sadly, this is a trade-off we have made as a society for "ergonomics".