Many clients are equipped with a microphone and camera. In principle, these devices can be activated and used by anyone who has corresponding access rights—including external parties in the case of networked systems. If these rights are not carefully assigned, unauthorised persons can manipulate a microphone or camera to eavesdrop on rooms or record meetings unnoticed via the Internet. This also includes intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) or voice assistants, which constantly listen to their environment and carry out functions such as playing music, calling contacts, controlling lighting, or changing the room temperature when they hear device-dependent code words. If conversations are transmitted to third parties (e.g. by IPAs), they could be intercepted by unauthorised persons. Recorded conversations could also be stored and processed further by the operators of an IPA for a longer period of time.