There have been so many allegations on Facebook that the company is secretly stealing data and information. This time, again, people are accusing Facebook of stealing data secretly by opening the camera of their phone.
Twitter user Joshua Maddux tweeted that the Facebook app on his iPhone is automatically opening the camera when he is watching any video. He wrote “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.”
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
He further said in a series of tweets “Update, I have been able to confirm this across 5 different iPhones all running 13.2.2. I will note that iPhones running iOS 12 don’t show the camera (not to say that it’s not being used).”
Update, I have been able to confirm this across 5 different iPhones all running 13.2.2. I will note that iPhones running iOS 12 don't show the camera (not to say that it's not being used).
— Joshua Maddux (@JoshuaMaddux) November 11, 2019
Some other iPhone users also tweed about the same issue. After they clicked on the video to full screen, returning it back to normal would create a bug in which Facebook’s mobile layout was slightly shifted to the right. With the open space on the left, they could now see the phone’s camera activated in the background.:
Same problem here: https://t.co/7QnxMqReU8
— Daryl Lasafin (@dzlasafin) November 10, 2019
Something similar pic.twitter.com/VxxDhvVvtE
— Chirica Adrian (@Colbiocin) November 12, 2019
Guy Rosen, The vice president of the integrity of Facebook, replied that this seems like a bug and the company’s looking into the matter.
Thanks for flagging this. This sounds like a bug, we are looking into it.
— Guy Rosen (@guyro) November 12, 2019
According to him, The bug appears to only affect the latest iOS versions, and it didn’t happen on Android devices. Jerry Gamblin, the principal security engineer at Kenna Security, was able to replicate the bug and told CNN “there is no indication that the data actually is transmitted to Facebook.” He further added “We have seen no evidence of photos or videos being uploaded due to this bug. We’re submitting the fix for this to Apple today”