For years there have been anecdotes from people saying that Facebook secretly uses their phone’s microphone and/or camera for targeted advertising. Joshua Maddux tweeted about a bug he found within the Facebook app. By tapping on a profile picture and slowly sliding it down the screen, you can see his rear camera being accessed on the left hand side. He tested it using five iPhones running iOS 13.2.2.
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.
Check It Out: Is Facebook Secretly Accessing Your Camera? This Man Found a Bug
I just uninstalled the Instagram app from my phone and iPad. the web works well enough, actually better in some ways, and it’s less likely to involve Facebook spying.
I can’t seem to replicate it, but the description of how to isn’t very clear.
Andrew and @geoduck:
By not purchasing and installing FB’s camera into your home, you’ve left FB no choice but to access your camera and microphone.
Come on; how else are they to get that feed?
It’s not FB’s fault. The consumers made them do it.
As usual, the blame is on the victim ?
Lol I didn’t want to install the app to test it so I asked Bryan.
I will never install the FB app. Hell, I’m not so sure about Instagram now either