NY Governor Andrew Cuomo Calls FaceTime Bug an ‘Egregious Breach of Privacy’
Written by SOURCE on January 29, 2019
A worrying bug that impacts people with iPhones has been found. It allows a user to listen into another person’s phone even if they don’t pick up.
Now you can answer for yourself on FaceTime even if they don’t answer🤒#Apple explain this.. pic.twitter.com/gr8llRKZxJ
— Benji Mobb™ (@BmManski) January 28, 2019
All a person has to do to listen in is make a FaceTime call, and while the phone is ringing, swipe up to add another person. From there, you add yourself to the call. This will start a Group FaceTime call with the person even if they don’t pick up.
1. Start a FaceTime video call.
2. While it’s still ringing, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and click “Add Person.”
3. Add your own phone number to the call.You’ll now be able to hear the microphone from the other device, even if the owner is nowhere nearby.
— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) January 29, 2019
To protect yourself from the breach, head to the settings section of your iPhone and make sure to toggle off the FaceTime feature.
nightmare bug. turn off FaceTime nowhttps://t.co/67OTjM90Qn pic.twitter.com/WDZgexEBz9
— rat king (@MikeIsaac) January 29, 2019
Shortly after news of the bug began to make the rounds, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo commented on the frightening development. “The FaceTime bug is an egregious breach of privacy that puts New Yorkers at risk,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement. “In New York, we take consumer rights very seriously and I am deeply concerned by this irresponsible bug that can be exploited for unscrupulous purposes.”
MORE: NY Gov. Cuomo issues “consumer alert” on Apple FaceTime bug, calling for users to “temporarily disable the app until Apple issues a fix.” https://t.co/j1YZcXAO8E pic.twitter.com/UxCaYqpsGw
— ABC News (@ABC) January 29, 2019
“We’re aware of this issue and we have identified a fix that will be released in a software update later this week,” an Apple spokesperson told CNBC.
Me trying to make sure my Facetime is completely turned off 👀 pic.twitter.com/volBgNvxEd
— Complex (@Complex) January 29, 2019
Apple has since reportedly disabled Group FaceTime.
Apple says it has taken Group FaceTime offline in attempt to resolve calling exploit https://t.co/Y8yeHVFP5k by @ChanceHMiller pic.twitter.com/iHzRJO2hJE
— 9to5Mac.com (@9to5mac) January 29, 2019
Stay tuned as more information about when an update that permanently fixes the glitch becomes available.
