A newly-discovered bug in Apple’s FaceTime allows a person to secretly hear what someone is saying before they answer the call. The bug affects any iPhone, iPad, or Mac that supports FaceTime.Apple said it would release a software fix for the bug “later this week.” In the meanwhile, the only thing to do is disable FaceTime entirely in your system settings.
A major privacy flaw in Apple’sFaceTime video chat product has been discovered allowing someone to secretly eavesdrop on another user before they answer the call.
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This bug affects any Apple iPhone, iPad, or Mac that can run FaceTime. The bug is a serious problem in one of Apple’s flagship products and is especially embarrassing given Apple’s recent campaign touting its privacy bona fides compared to rivals like Google. It also comes less than 24 hours before Apple is due to report close-watched quarterly earnings in which the company is expected to report a decline in iPhone sales.
News of the privacy bug was making the rounds on Twitter on Monday and was quickly picked up by Apple blogs like 9to5Mac. Some users were urging iPhone owners to switch off FaceTime until Apple fixes the vulnerability.
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The bug in FaceTime allows someone to dial one of their contacts and listen in to the recipient’s microphone before they actually answer the call. This can be accomplished by using the “add a person” feature after dialing the contact and then adding your own number as the other person.
Furthermore, The Verge discovered that if the person being called pushes the power or volume button on their iPhone to dismiss the FaceTime call, it actually sends the caller a video feed, as well.
An Apple representative sent the following statement to Business Insider: “We’re aware of this issue and we have identified a fix that will be released in a software update later this week.”
In the meanwhile, those concerned about the issue should disable FaceTime on their Apple devices until the fix is available. You can see instructions for doing so on an iPhone and iPad here, or on a Mac here.
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