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adult player

I don't like the idea of any app being able to operate the camera without direct user interaction - flaw in OS?

Nope, flaw in the users' common sense for installing an app without due diligence. :)

Many legit security apps do the same thing to capture images of whoever is holding the device when instructed to do so.
 
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I don't see how you would design the OS so that it required user interaction to operate the camera. The regular camera app is just that, an app: when you press a target on the screen it uses a system call to take a picture. So if another app sends the same instruction without requiring you to press a particular point on the screen, how is the OS to tell? If you allow any third party apps to use the camera (e.g. your favourite message app) then you allow this possibility.

Anyway, I don't think the photo taking is the main issue here. That's just a bit of icing on the "we've locked you out of your phone" cake.
 
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If it's only asking to lock the screen, it doesn't actually take any pictures then.

It can't take pictures without the camera permission.

If it doesn't ask for permission to read/write your SD Card, it's not getting pictures from there either.
Go to Settings > Lock Screen > Lock Screen Options > Scroll down to see Camera Quick Access Turn it on
By enabling camera quick access in lock screen options you grant an app with lock screen permission access to the camera and contents of the DCIM/camera directory. Lock screen permission also bypasses pin lock.
 
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There is no lock screen permission I can see? It's not listed here, nor is it listed on any of the 5 or so lock screen apps I've just checked on Play. Device Admin grants acces to the lock screen and PIN

Unless I'm missing something, it looks as though it has to request permission to camera etc to be able to use the camera.
 
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You may have an Android version with lock screen widgets - they are enabled from Settings > Security > Screen Security > Enable widgets check box
Then when swiping left from the lock screen there's a + symbol for adding lock screen widgets, then you may have to install a camera shortcut.

Google has done away with the lock screen widgets since Android 5.0 Lollipop, hence the lock screen options. Who would have thought that setting all this up for the convenience of quick camera access from a locked screen without having to enter a pin would allow malware like "adult player" to access to your camera/DCIM directory.
 
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Who would have thought that setting all this up for the convenience of quick camera access from a locked screen without having to enter a pin would allow malware like "adult player" to access to your camera/DCIM directory.

Anyone who thinks twice before installing something from an unknown source? ;)
 
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Capturer.JPG

-restrict the categories of data an application can access

Root and http://repo.xposed.info/module/biz.bokhorst.xprivacy
 
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