Govt To Probe WhatsApp's Alleged Microphone Usage In Background Due To Android Bug

Is WhatsApp accessing microphones on some Android devices in the background? In a Tweet shared by a Twitter engineer to which Elon Musk also responded, the claim that WhatsApp may be using your microphone in the background was put forward.

According to the engineer, the Meta-owned messaging app was accessing their Google Pixel 7 Pro's microphone during the night even when the app wasn't actively in use. According to WhatsApp, this is an an Android bug that "misattributes information in their Privacy Dashboard" and that the company has urged Google to issue a fix.

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What happened?

The screenshot was shared by Twitter's director of engineering, Foad Dabiri, in which you can clearly see that WhatsApp had accessed the microphone on his Pixel 7 Pro at night when the app wasn't even actively in use. The app reportedly accessed the microphone at least nine times between 4 am and 7 am local time while the user was asleep.

WhatsApp has been using the microphone in the background, while I was asleep and since I woke up at 6AM (and that's just a part of the timeline!) What's going on? pic.twitter.com/pNIfe4VlHV

¡ª Foad Dabiri (@foaddabiri) May 6, 2023

"WhatsApp has been using the microphone in the background, while I was asleep and since I woke up at 6AM (and that's just a part of the timeline!) What's going on?," he wrote.

Turns out he's not the only Pixel user facing this issue. Multiple users have pointed out the issue, claiming that the green dot that signifies microphone usage pops up on their device as active even when WhatsApp has been closed.

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Also read: WhatsApp Introduces New Feature: Use Same Account On Multiple Phones

Based on the data available in Permissions History in the phone settings, users claim that the app has been using the microphone in the background. Twitter CEO Elon Musk also responded to the Tweet, writing "Trust nothing, not even nothing."

WhatsApp has dismissed the claims, writing on Twitter that they've reached out to the Twitter engineer. "We believe this is a bug on Android that mis-attributes information in their Privacy Dashboard and have asked Google to investigate and remediate," the company wrote.

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

¡ª WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) May 9, 2023

Also read: WhatsApp Unveils Three New Features To Safeguard User Accounts On iOS, Android

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WhatsApp also added the following - "Users have full control over their mic settings... Once granted permission, WhatsApp only accesses the mic when a user is making a call or recording a voice note or video - and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption so WhatsApp cannot hear them."

Users have full control over their mic settings

Once granted permission, WhatsApp only accesses the mic when a user is making a call or recording a voice note or video - and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption so WhatsApp cannot hear them

¡ª WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) May 9, 2023

On May 10, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the government would look into any "violation of privacy" on the part of WhatsApp.

This is an unacceptable breach n violation of #Privacy

We will be examinig this immdtly and will act on any violation of privacy even as new Digital Personal Data protection bill #DPDP is being readied.@GoI_MeitY @_DigitalIndia https://t.co/vtFrST4bKP

¡ª Rajeev Chandrasekhar ?? (@Rajeev_GoI) May 10, 2023

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