Facebook and instances of its invasion of privacy seem to be never ending. This time, there are complaints that users of iPhones and possibly other iOS devices have noticed the camera app being triggered in the background. As per reports, in some situations, the camera was activated without the user’s knowledge.
“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,” one user tweeted.
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
Today, while watching a video on @facebook, I rotated to landscape and could see the Facebook/Instagram Story UI for a split second. When rotating back to portrait, the Story camera/UI opened entirely. A little worrying... pic.twitter.com/7lVHHGedGf
— Neo QA (@neo_qa) November 2, 2019
Some users have uploaded the images and videos of how the bug is showing up. Facebook has since admitted to the flaw and says it is ready with the fix and is sending it to Apple.
The way the users have reported this camera app opening within the Facebook app has a couple of dimensions. One user has said it occurred when the iPhone was switched from the portrait mode to the landscape made. When the user flipped it back to the vertical view, they found the Stories camera open on the screen.
Another user found that when while viewing a photo within Facebook, by just dragging the image downward revealed the camera app open beneath.
The significant part of this is that the bug is seen only on the iOS 13.2.2 version and not on the iOS 12.
The only saving grace is that Facebook quickly owned up the bug in its app and went a step further to identify the source of the defect as well. The social media company says there was an update on November 8 and the bug has appeared through that update. As mentioned above the company says the fix has been created and is being forwarded to Apple to be sent via OTA to the devices. The company says it has not received any report so far of photos or videos being uploaded due to this bug.
Facebook has been under cloud for quite a while now and many users have deleted the app due to fears that their personal information is being misused by the social media network. The trust level has certainly declined. This incident is one more in the chapter. Experts have advised that it is better to disable the camera function within the Facebook app till the fix appears on the iPhones and people report the issue has been solved.