Report: Facebook Can Secretly Use Your iPhone Camera

Facebook has long been the subject of conspiracy theories that it can use your phone’s microphone to eavesdrop on you. While this has never definitively been proven, an eagle-eyed designer recently found something just as bad: the Facebook app for iOS appears to actively use your camera without your knowledge while you’re scrolling your feed.

According to the Twitter user who uncovered the problem, web designer Joshua Maddux, the problem can likely be chalked up to a bug that shows the camera app in a sliver on the left side of your screen when you open a photo in the app and swipe down.

“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,” Maddux tweeted.

He also noted that iOS 12 doesn’t seem to have the problem, or at least it doesn’t show the camera. However, if you’re running other versions of the software, you can prevent Facebook from snooping on you by revoking camera access for the app — or covering up your camera altogether. Another option is using your device’s mobile web browser to access Facebook instead of the app. Hopefully Facebook responds to the outcry and fixes this issue immediately. Of course, that’s assuming the company wants to fix it.




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