On the same day Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook called for action and reform for vital privacy protections, a jaw-dropping flaw in Apple’s FaceTime software was discovered, allowing users to eavesdrop on others.
The bug quickly made the rounds on social media, with many people advising others to disable Facetime on their iPhone or Mac.
The way it worked: Simply dial another user, while the call is still ringing swipe up and insert your phone number via the "add person" screen before the call is answered. Adding the second person to the call would trick the app into believing a Group FaceTime conference call had been started and would begin transmitting audio from the original recipient’s device whether they answered or rejected the call.
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
To make a bad situation worse, many users later figured out that if the recipient hits the power or volume button to ignore the call, their device would start sending audio and video from its front-facing camera, all without a visual notification.
— nic nguyen (@itsnicolenguyen) January 29, 2019
Apple later said it was aware of the issue and identified a fix that would be released in a software update later this week. Until then the company has disabled Group FaceTime conferencing features.