WhatsApp and Google investigated some concerns raised by a Twitter engineer regarding alleged microphone misuse in the background, which led to accusations of spying. WhatsApp attributes the issue to a bug in the Android system, and Google confirms their investigation into the bug, aiming to develop a fix for affected users soon.
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Article about? | Android bug – Privacy Dashboard |
| Source: | Engadget. |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.10.13: what’s new? WhatsApp is releasing a feature that allows users to edit messages! |
ANDROID BUG – PRIVACY DASHBOARD
A few days ago, a Twitter engineer shared some concerns about WhatsApp’s alleged misuse of the microphone in the background, leading to accusations of silent spying on users. These claims caught the attention of both the public and the media, in particular after a tweet shared by Elon Musk. These allegations prompted WhatsApp to respond with a statement by publishing a tweet from their official Twitter account, asserting that they believed the issue to be a bug with the Privacy Dashboard within the Android system rather than intentional monitoring:
WhatsApp further stated that they reached Google to ask to investigate and mitigate the situation. WhatsApp’s prompt response on Twitter to those allegations, along with the proactive approach in involving Google to investigate the issue, demonstrates the commitment to keeping the integrity of user privacy. This position is definitely in line with their global campaign launched last year, aimed at keeping users informed about the app’s latest privacy features and end-to-end encryption. We have also consistently maintained on Twitter that it was a bug in the past, which aligns with our stance since we had previously raised awareness on Twitter about similar issues caused by Android system updates, resulting in incorrect privacy indicators for WhatsApp and other apps.
Finally, in an update provided by Engadget, a reputable technology news and reviews website, we learned that a spokesperson from Google confirmed that the reported issue affecting WhatsApp users, which resulted in incorrect privacy indicators and notifications within the Privacy Dashboard, is a bug on Android. These inaccurate representations led users to believe that the app was accessing their microphone or the device camera when it was not. Google assured users that they are actively working on a solution to address this issue in a new update of the Android operating system.
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