Apple, champion of ‘privacy,’ utterly blows it with massively stupid FaceTime bug

“A significant bug has been discovered in FaceTime and is currently spreading virally over social media,” Benjamin Mayo reports for 9to5Mac. “The bug lets you call anyone with FaceTime, and immediately hear the audio coming from their phone — before the person on the other end has accepted or rejected the incoming call.”
“There is no indication on the recipient’s side that you could hear any of their audio,” Mayo reports. “There’s a second part to this which can expose video too.”
“The damage potential here is real. You can listen in to soundbites of any iPhone user’s ongoing conversation without them ever knowing that you could hear them,” Mayo reports. “As it stands, if your phone is ringing with an incoming FaceTime request, the person on the other end could be listening in. What we have also found is that if the person presses the Power button from the Lock screen, their video is also sent to the caller — unbeknownst to them.”
Read more in the full article here.

We must keep fighting for the kind of world we want to live in. On this #DataPrivacyDay let us all insist on action and reform for vital privacy protections. The dangers are real and the consequences are too important.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 28, 2019

MacDailyNews Take: Tim Cook’s Apple is too often slipshod and we’ve been warning about it for four long years.

Apple’s eavesdropping problem – a number of users have been able to use FaceTime’s app, specifically the group call function, to listen in on other people’s phones without them knowing, @joefryer reports. pic.twitter.com/qr0LD8u2Vp
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 29, 2019

SEE ALSO:
Apple was alerted about FaceTime eavesdropping bug days ago, did nothing – January 29, 2019
Apple to patch audio bug in FaceTime that allows users to hear audio and see video from users who have not yet accepted a call – January 29, 2019
Apple CEO Cook calls for U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive federal privacy legislation in TIME op-ed – January 17, 2019
Apple CEO Cook promotes privacy as ‘fundamental human right’ via tweetstorm; asks ‘What kind of world do we want to live in?’ – October 24, 2018
Open letter to Tim Cook: Apple needs to do better – January 5, 2015