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Publish Date : 14 November 2019 - 01:20  ,  
News ID: 6416

Facebook bug shows iPhone camera activated during app use

TEHRAN(Basirat): A newly discovered bug appears to show that the Facebook app for iPhone is accessing users' rear-facing camera while they're scrolling through their newsfeed.
The Facebook app is displayed on an Apple iPhone on May 14, 2019, in San Anselmo, California. (Photo by AFP)
The Facebook app is displayed on an Apple iPhone on May 14, 2019, in San Anselmo, California. (Photo by AFP)

 

The bug was first noticed by privacy-minded Twitter users earlier this week. Here's what it looks like in action:

Facebook's vice president of integrity Guy Rosen addressed the bug in a series of tweets after it was reported by Business Insider and other outlets Tuesday. Rosen said the bug was the result of a recent patch, and that Facebook has "no evidence of photos/videos uploaded due to this."

Business Insider confirmed that the bug is reproducible with version 246.0 of the Facebook app on an iPhone running iOS 13.2.2. It's seemingly triggered when a user clicks on an ad and then rapidly clicks away, or opens a different users' profile picture and rapidly swipes down.

It's not clear whether the rear-facing camera is always on when users open the Facebook app or if the bug is triggering a shortcut to quickly open the camera. The Facebook app opens the front-facing camera when users tap the "Go Live" button, and opens the rear-facing camera if users navigate to their stories page and then click the camera icon — this screen is more than one step away from the newsfeed.

While it's likely a bug, the issue raises questions regarding Facebook users' privacy, especially since there's no obvious notification that the Facebook app is accessing the rear-facing camera when it appears.

Source:PressTV

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