A recent report claims that a “bug” in Facebook’s iOS app activates iPhone cameras and microphones when users scroll through their newsfeed. Breitbart News has listed the steps to disable Facebook’s access to your camera at the bottom of this article.
9to5Mac.com reports that a web designer named Joshua Maddux has discovered that Facebook’s iOS app activates the iPhone camera while users scroll through their newsfeed. Maddux replicated this issue on five separate devices but found that it was not present on Android devices.
Maddux discussed the issue in a tweet, stating: “Found a @facebook #security & #privacy issue. When the app is open it actively uses the camera. I found a bug in the app that lets you see the camera open behind your feed. Note that I had the camera pointed at the carpet.”
The Next Web reported similar app behavior stating: “The findings are consistent with our own attempts. While iPhones running iOS 13.2.2 indeed show the camera actively working in the background, the issue doesn’t appear to affect iOS 13.1.3.”
Maddux included a video showing the bug:
Found a @facebook #security & #privacy issue. When the app is open it actively uses the camera. I found a bug in the app that lets you see the camera open behind your feed. Note that I had the camera pointed at the carpet. pic.twitter.com/B8b9oE1nbl
— Joshua Maddux (@JoshuaMaddux) November 10, 2019
9to5Mac suggest that the easiest way to prevent this bug from happening on your iOS device is to revoke the Facebook app’s microphone and camera access by going to the Settings app and clicking through the following steps:
Privacy > Camera > Facebook and Settings > Privacy > Microphone > Facebook and disabling the apps access.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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