I'd personally want to do a daemonized process so I and anyone else would be none the wiser, with a randomized delay of under a minute after the lid was opened.
Regarding privacy? I doubt anyone would get into any sort of trouble with it. If it's your laptop, you can install whatever you want on it, even rootkits and keyloggers.
The was the core idea of getting it when the laptop opened. By having it always go off I had no effort (or choice) about getting my photo taken. And it paid off as I kept at it for years.
What I think would be cooler is if you could randomize it a bit. Privacy concerns?