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WhatsApp allegedly accessing microphone on Pixel 7, Galaxy S23 & other phones even when not in use
WhatsApp allegedly accessing microphone on Google Pixel 7, Galaxy S23 & other phones even when not in use (workaround inside)
WhatsApp is currently the most popular messaging app in the world. It managed to establish its dominance from birth by allowing free unlimited messaging at a time when text messages were still relatively expensive.
WhatsApp has been part of the big technology conglomerate META (Facebook) for some years now. This has raised some concerns related to user data privacy due to Zuckerberg’s company background.
Now, there are WhatsApp users claiming that the app is accessing the microphone on their smartphones even when it is not in use.
WhatsApp allegedly accessing microphone even when not in use
The issue is not exactly new, since there have been similar reports for weeks.
People have been able to notice the use of the microphone thanks to the ‘Privacy Indicators’ feature (present since Android 12). ...
https://piunikaweb.com/2023/05/04/whatsapp-allegedly-accessing-microphone-even-when-not-in-use/
Comments
Dont see an issue, thats normal.
facebook could literally shit on everyone's profile, and people would still use it
Didn"t see this with S22. No suspicious mic usage.
Switch to Telegram X: https://github.com/TGX-Android/Telegram-X and never look back
Whatsapp also have a backdoor so they can see/read and inject message text. It is far from end-to-end encrypted
This sounds like a hanlon's razor moment?
It's not like Whatsapp would gain anything from spying on you. If the theory is that they could use recordings of you to target ads, then I'd like to point out that they hardly need recordings of you if they, at the same time can just read all the messages you're sending (which, like, they can't unless you specifically report the message which is equivalent of just taking a screenshot).
This article is pointless unless it shows they are abusing special APIs they weren't supposed to be using (e.g. Facebook and Uber did with iOS against Apple's knowledge).
Otherwise, is this not an Android permissions bug?
Not enough people in my contacts use telegram. I did notice that it's become more prominent in the last couple of years.
Seems like a bug on whatsapp. If you do not use whatsapp to call, just disable microphone access altogether.
On my phone I can't call anyone on whatsapp because it says the mic is disabled but it is not, at least not in settings. I can call on skype without issues, for example.
There is definitely a bug some place which, depending on phone and android version, could lead to very unexpected results.
This report plus my experience seem to equal some weird use of an API in a way it was not designed to, whether intentionally or not.
I had the exact same issue as you on my previous phone! Whatsapp could not access the mic no matter how many times I installed it or give it permission. Had to change phone and only them it got fixed. However the habit of not using whatsapp to call stayed with me so if anyone calls me on whatsapp, i'll just cut the line and call back using regular phone call...
Elon Musk tweeted a day or two ago that he does not trust WhatsApp (in response to one of these images showing random use of the mic) . For whatever that's worth.
Elon Musk could not be trusted either. He scammed people on crypto currency and then drove twitter into the ground.
Honestly speaking, nothing can be trusted...
This shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone, I'd say.
In your view what ways is twitter worse after the changes he has made?
Previously if I saw a post with a blue tick, i knew it was from a official source. Now it can no longer be trusted. Also a few groups I followed left twitter after the incident, thus I dont really have a reason to use twitter anymore either. Finally, with the new "feeds" sending me random tweet and ads, I do not see any reason to stick to it when I can get the same updates on Telegram groups instead.
So you would consider any individual who previously was granted Twitter celebrity status with a blue check mark as an official source? I don't agree with you there.
I prefer it being free and open to anyone who wants to buy the check.
allowing anyone to buy but matching account name to card name and only showing tick where these match would be stellar
Well, not "official" but at least I knew that the account was the "real" one, not the fake/parody one.
I do not disagree with you on it being open, but "free" implies the need to not pay. Buying the check is not "free" in any meaning of the word. Yes, it is open for everyone to buy, but that includes bad actors. There should be a proper identity verification before passing out checkmarks, even if they want to charge for it to keep twitter afloat.
Now the blue tick just shows that the tweet is from a "premium" member, making a clear distinction between those that have and those that have not. It is now a badge to show off your status as a paid member.
You mean users and advertisers leaving in droves?
/me buys @jonbiloh blue mark and then tweets "LET sucks. I am closing this site because all the users are idiots".
Why? That's exactly the purpose of it. Verification, not imitation. The current blue check mark is demonstrably useless and confusing.
Free? Wtf does that even mean in the context of buying? Sure. Both you and Musk apparently don't know why people used Twitter.
BTW, this thread is not about Twitter :P
Are they now?
Yes!?! I don't even know why you'd ask, unless you've been ignoring the news for months.
Embrace iPhone, leave Android.
They all came back because virtue signaling did not work
Refresh the news, and look for non-biased articles, instead of CNN or whatever the fuck else are you reading.
Oh, I read how major advertisers like Microsoft left, I never heard they came back. Link?
When 40-50% of top advertisers leave, why the fuck isn't Twitter telling the world that all of those 40-50% advertisers have all come back and Twitter is now bigger than ever? Link?
https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/3/23/23651151/twitter-advertisers-elon-musk-brands-revenue-fleeing
So revenue this past quarter must be the best quarter under Musk, right?
Edit: oh, this is a case of "because musk said so". https://searchengineland.com/advertisers-slow-to-return-to-twitter-despite-musks-claims-395637
Edit2: https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitters-advertising-business-seen-facing-slow-recovery-2023-04-13/
https://hybrid-rituals.com/elon-musks-claim-about-twitter-advertisers/?amp=1
Are you obtuse? Did you read any of the reasons cited why businesses pulled their ads? That's not virtue signalling, that's business. You tell us you're not 16, but reinforce it over and over.
Most Trumpistanis have their brains stuck at 16 or below at schoolyard bully level. After that, raw knuckle-dragging Neanderthal brute-force is no longer enough and everything started to unravel for them.
Nobody with some life experience and a brain could believe all that Trumpistani Q-Annon shit, but I am happy for them that they have their safe space on Twitter following the Muskian take-over.
Conspiracy theory or not, it is their right to try to spread it to fellow primates.