That feels strongly worded, but if you would like, you can go to your Settings, scroll down to FaceTime, and toggle it off at the top of the screen. I am deeply concerned by this irresponsible bug that can be exploited for unscrupulous purposes.” Andrew Cuomo has issued a statement urging people to do so, writing, “The FaceTime bug is an egregious breach of privacy.
#FACETIME SCREEN UPDATE#
But if you’re still worried, you can turn off FaceTime altogether until the bug is resolved, which Apple has said will be “in a software update later this week.” New York Gov. 2XBHKPo3Ta- David M Sula January 29, 2019Īpple has already disabled the Group FaceTime feature. I spent 45 minutes on this, and I don't regret it. When someone is trying to #FaceTime you, and you can't ignore it because of Apple bugs. If you’re behind on your updates, you might be fine. This is a pretty major bug, obviously, but it only affects iPhone owners who have an operating system that supports Group FaceTime (iOS 12.1 or later). The caller has to explicitly exploit a flaw in the Group FaceTime feature by placing a call, then quickly swiping up and adding their phone number to it - before the other person picks up - in order to trick the FaceTime glitch into thinking they’re on an active conference call. This isn’t happening with every single FaceTime call, though. And it fans the flames of a growing public paranoia around surveillance, in particular related to betrayal by personal devices. Further, if the recipient hits the power or volume button to reject the call, it will start transmitting video as well.Īpple has historically used its top-notch security standards as a selling point for its devices, so it’s a bit of an embarrassing slip-up. As reported by 9to5Mac on Monday evening, a bug in Apple’s FaceTime app is currently allowing callers to listen through iPhone microphones before the call’s recipient even picks up.