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Facebook bug shows camera activated in background during app use
Some people have complained their cameras got turned on while they were looking through Facebook's app.
When you're scrolling through Facebook's app, the social network could be watching you back, concerned users have found. Multiple people have found and reported that their iPhone cameras were turned on in the background while they were looking at their feed.
The issue came to light through several posts on Twitter. Users noted that their cameras were activated behind Facebook's app as they were watching videos or looking at photos on the social network.
After people 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, you could now see the phone's camera activated in the background.
This was documented in multiple cases, with the earliest incident on Nov. 2.
[...] "I thought it was just my phone or the app acting up," Lasafin said in a direct message. "Then I observed it became more persistent that evening."
Facebook would like to assure users that it was unintentional that the layout bug revealed that the camera was secretly activated.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @05:56PM (2 children)
Unless you can open the physical switch and put an Ohm meter across the terminals, toggle the switch, and verify the circuit opens, then you cannot trust a physical switch.
By the way, you'll also need to follow the traces back into the circuit board to ensure that you are indeed open-circuiting the camera part of the motherboard to be sure. A wiring diagram from your phone vendor might be helpful here.
But then again, unless you can open the chips and put them under a microscope and verify that it matches the aforementioned circuit diagram, you can't really trust your circuit analysis.
So unless you can do all of that, you don't ever really know, do you?
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday November 13 2019, @09:20PM (1 child)
Or you do it the simple way and put a slide plate or dot of tape over the camera until you need it. Inconvenient but much easier and cheaper.
Now microphones are a different story...
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @02:26PM
That's a nice set of speakers you got there, would be a shame if someone turned them into a microphone [wired.com]