We draw attention to iPhone users. It appears that Facebook may be actively using your camera without you knowing, while you scroll through your feed.
The issue comes to light from a user named Joshua Maddux who posted on Twitter to report the unusual behavior, which appears in the Facebook app for iOS. In a video he shared, you can see the camera working actively in the background as he scrolls through his feed.
The problem becomes apparent due to a bug that displays the camera feed in a small strip on the left side of your screen when you open a photo in the app and it scrolls down. See the user's post on Twitter below:
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
Maddux adds that he found the same issue on five iPhone devices running iOS 13.2.2, but he couldn't reproduce it on iOS 12. “I notice that the iPhones running iOS 12 do not show the camera (not to say they aren't being used), “he said.
The findings are consistent with our own experiments. While iPhones running iOS 13.2.2 do indeed show that the camera is actively running in the background, the issue does not appear to affect iOS 13.1.3. We also noticed that the issue only occurs if you have given Facebook access to your camera. If not, it appears that the Facebook app is trying to gain access, but iOS is blocking the attempt.
It remains unclear whether this is expected behavior or simply a software bug for iOS. It's worth noting that we were unable to reproduce the issue on Android (version 10, used on the Google Pixel 4).
Whatever the reason for this, this behavior is particularly interesting – especially considering Facebook's wild history when it comes to user privacy (remember Cambridge Analytica?).
Everyone should know that any iOS that has been granted access to your camera can secretly record you. In 2017, researcher Felix Krause spoke to TNW about the same topic.
The researcher pointed out that one way to address this privacy issue is to revoke camera access. Another thing he suggested is to cover your camera — like former FBI Director James Comey and Facebook emperor Mark Zuckerberg himself . So learn from the pros…
