Elon Musk had some scathing remarks about WhatsApp and tweeted that the app cannot be trusted. A Twitter engineer exposed a disturbing bug that made the app listen to its surroundings when the device it was installed on was not being used
Elon Musk had some scathing remarks about WhatsApp and tweeted that the app cannot be trusted. A Twitter engineer exposed a disturbing bug that made the app listen to its surroundings when the device it was installed on was not being used
Elon Musk has expressed his lack of trust in WhatsApp following claims made by a Twitter engineer. The engineer alleged that the messaging app had been utilizing his device’s microphone while he was asleep, and even shared a screenshot of an Android dashboard as evidence. In response to the tweet, Musk stated that WhatsApp cannot be relied upon.
WhatsApp cannot be trusted https://t.co/3gdNxZOLLy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2023
Interestingly, despite Musk’s scepticism, the CEO of Twitter is introducing features reminiscent of WhatsApp to the Twitter platform. These features include voice and video calls, indicating a potential expansion of communication capabilities within the Twitter app, similar to what WhatsApp offers.
Is WhatsApp secretly listening to users without consent?
The Twitter engineer, Foad Dabiri, publicly posted a screenshot of an Android dashboard on Twitter. The screenshot revealed that WhatsApp had apparently been accessing his device’s microphone in the background during a specific timeframe, from 4:20 AM until 6:53 AM.
Dabiri expressed his concern in a tweet, stating, “WhatsApp has been using the microphone in the background while I was asleep, and since I woke up at 6 AM (and that’s just a part of the timeline!). What’s going on?” This raised questions about the app’s behaviour and the potential unauthorized use of the device’s microphone.
WhatsApp says the issue was caused by a bug
Elon Musk’s tweet expressing distrust in WhatsApp forced a response from the messaging app itself. In a separate tweet, WhatsApp clarified that the issue was a result of a bug in the Android operating system, which led to incorrect information being displayed in the privacy dashboard.
Over the last 24 hours we’ve been in touch with a Twitter engineer who posted an issue with his Pixel phone and WhatsApp.
We believe this is a bug on Android that mis-attributes information in their Privacy Dashboard and have asked Google to investigate and remediate. https://t.co/MnBi3qE6Gp
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) May 9, 2023
WhatsApp specifically mentioned that the user’s phone in question was a Google Pixel device and that they have requested Google to investigate the matter and find a solution.
Furthermore, WhatsApp emphasized that its users have complete control over their microphone settings. The microphone can only be accessed when a user actively makes a call, records a voice note, or captures a video. This clarification from WhatsApp aimed to address concerns and reassure users about their privacy and control over microphone access.
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