Hisham Sarwar
In a new report by TNW, it may come as no surprise but could put you off if you are an iPhone user that Facebook may well be secretly using your iPhone camera.
In spite of all the privacy cyclones the company has surrounded itself in the last few years, there’s something new that surfaces every now and then, pivoting around privacy-oriented issues.
Initially reported by TNW, Twitter user Joshua Maddux recently discovered that the Facebook app on his iPhone was up to something unusual. He observed that the camera was fully engaged in the background as he was browsing through his Facebook timeline.
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
After his post, the Twitter user posted another comment confirming by saying:
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)
How Do I Stop This?
You can stop your iPhone cam being accessed by Facebook in the background by following these 4 steps.
- Open the iPhone Settings
- Tap Privacy
- Tap Camera
- Find the entry for Facebook and tap it to turn it off.
There must be a reason why Mark Zuckerberg puts tape on his laptop and we are pretty confident, he would be doing it on his phone too.
It’s tricky out there online. Watch out and protect yourself before you are exposed to the world.
