Facebook Can Open Your iPhone's Camera While You Scroll Through Newsfeed

Some iPhone owners were found out to be affected by a bug that lets Facebook accesses their cameras while they are on the site.

This flaw was uncovered by Joshua Maddux, and he brought the matter to Twitter. In his tweet, there is a video showing his camera working in the background while he scrolled through the newsfeed.

Maddux said that he experienced the same issue with five iOS devices running iOS 13.2.2. However, the bug did not show up on an iPhone with iOS 12. Another test shows that devices with iOS 13.1.3 are not affected by this flaw.

Another finding is the cameras only turn on if users have given Facebook access to them; otherwise, its attempt to take control of them will be blocked by the operating system.

For now, we are not sure if this is a bug on iOS or behavior we should expect with the Facebook app for iPhones. Tests have been conducted with Android phones but the results prove that only some iOS smartphones fall victim to this flaw.

Whatever the reason, this bug is alarming, given Facebook’s track record with users’ privacy, and that the memories of Cambridge Analytica are still fresh.

Before Facebook or Apple say anything about this, iPhone users should be aware that if you have granted the app access to your cameras, Facebook can record you secretly when you open the app.

For now, one of the solutions for this is to revoke the permission, which may result in a less than smooth experience. Another way is to cover up the cameras when you use Facebook.

So far, the company behind the social media site has not yet announced anything official about this bug.

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