Google and WhatsApp have announced a confirmed bug in the messaging app that has been occurring for a month. The Messenger app on Android devices has been found to access the microphone unnecessarily even when not in use.
WhatsApp bug discovered: Microphone access without using the app
Attention was drawn to the bug when Twitter engineer Foad Dabiri tweeted about it . He shared an image of his smartphone privacy dashboard, which shows how often certain apps access features such as location, camera or microphone. The dashboard showed several incidents of the app using the microphone in the middle of the night.
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Elon Musk shared Dabiri's tweet "WhatsApp and the trust problem" on Tuesday with the words "You can't trust WhatsApp." The well-known billionaire once again expressed his concerns about the messenger service and expressed his support for the alternative Signal.
Incorrect attribution in the privacy dashboard: Android bug
WhatsApp also responded to the tweet and suspected that there was a bug in the Android system behind it. This bug causes information to be misattributed in the privacy dashboard. The company has already asked Google to investigate and fix the error.
Google has officially confirmed the problem. The company is aware of the issue and is working closely with WhatsApp to thoroughly investigate and resolve it.
However, this is not the first time the bug has been noticed. A month ago, the WABetaInfo blog reported that WhatsApp's privacy dashboard was showing access that did not actually take place. The issue affects both some Pixel and Samsung devices. Luckily, simply restarting your phone can fix the problem.
In another Twitter post, WhatsApp emphasizes that users have full control over their microphone settings. The messenger only uses the microphone when a user makes a call, records a voice message or makes a video. In addition, the recordings are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be viewed by the operator of the popular messenger app. However, history has shown that this does not always prevent the parent company Meta from reading or listening to messages.
Support is also provided by the well-known insider WABetaInfo, who also states that the error lies with Android. This means that the operating system detects access to the microphone even though there is no access - i.e. a “false positive”. The problem occurred after a patch and may also affect other apps.
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Sources:
Futurezone , Techbook
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