The rumor mill about WhatsApp and possible surveillance activities is bubbling. A brave engineer goes public and brings Elon Musk into play.
Munich – Have you ever had a conversation with friends, only to see frighteningly relevant ads on your smartphone later? Have you ever noticed this? Some people suspect that WhatsApp could be the culprit. On Twitter, numerous users spread reports about alleged eavesdropping activities of the free messenger service. Even an engineer from Twitter is among them.
Twitter engineer presents alleged eavesdropping by WhatsApp - Google confirms bug on Android
"WhatsApp used my microphone in the background while I slept and since I got up at six o'clock. What's happening?" asks Foad Dabiri on Twitter. He posts a timeline that supposedly documents when the app accessed his smartphone microphone.
Elon Musk, the still CEO of Twitter, has picked up on his employee's post. "WhatsApp can't be trusted," says the self-confessed supporter of Signal. The app was supposed to only activate the microphone when the user is recording videos or making voice calls, which is supposed to be made even easier with a new feature.
WhatsApp responds to wiretapping allegation: "We believe this is a bug in the Android operating system"
WhatsApp reacted immediately. "In the last 24 hours, we have been in contact with the Twitter engineer who posted an issue with his Pixel phone and WhatsApp," the company said on Twitter, adding: "We believe this is a bug in the Android operating system that mismatches information in the privacy dashboard. We asked Google to investigate and fix the error."
Google confirms WhatsApp error: Alleged eavesdropping operations are said to be based on bug
And that's exactly what Google did. Compared to the tech portal "endgadget.com", the concern confirms the existence of such an error. "According to our current investigations, this reported bug in Android, which affects WhatsApp users, results in incorrect privacy ads and notifications in the privacy dashboard," a spokesperson explains.
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It seems that this error has already occurred several times. It apparently affects a wide range of Samsung and Google smartphone models. Simply restarting the device could help solve the problem, at least temporarily.
Is WhatsApp eavesdropping on me? How to find out which app is using your microphone
Do you want to know if WhatsApp has accessed your smartphone's microphone? For Samsung devices, open Settings and select "Privacy and Security". Then click on the "Privacy" tab and then on "Microphone". There is a dashboard that shows when and which app accessed the microphone.
On Google's Pixel smartphones, the "Privacy Dashboard" is located under "Security & Privacy" and "Privacy". In the dashboard, you can then select "Microphone". iPhone users must enable the "App Privacy Report". WhatsApp can also be used to send greetings on special days – for example, Mother's Day on Sunday. May 14. In the meantime, WhatsApp even has the function of using a WhatsApp account on up to four smartphones.
This article, written by the editors, used machine support. The article was carefully reviewed by editor Johannes Nuß before publication.