Last month, it was revealed that a problem was causing some Android users to constantly have access to WhatsApp’s microphone. At the time, WhatsApp claimed that Google and Android were more to blame. Then, WhatsApp had stated, “We believe this is an Android bug that incorrectly attributes information in their Privacy Dashboard and have requested Google to investigate and remedy.” Google has now acknowledged and confirmed the problem. Google stated in a tweet that “a recent Android bug produced inaccurate privacy indicators and notifications in the Android Privacy Dashboard, affecting a small number of WhatsApp users.”
Users were prompted by Google to update WhatsApp since a fix had been released to solve the problem. The company’s Android Developers account stated, “We thank WhatsApp for their cooperation and regret for any misunderstanding this problem may have caused consumers.
What bug did the Android have?
An engineer at Twitter tweeted about a WhatsApp flaw in May. Whatsapp has been utilising the microphone in the background while I was asleep and since I woke up at 6 AM (and that’s just a part of the timeline! ),” Foad Dabiri wrote in a tweet. What’s happening?” In reality, Musk responded to his post by saying that “WhatsApp cannot be trusted.”
Dabiri posted a screenshot of the Android Dashboard demonstrating that WhatsApp’s microphone access was enabled. The ability to enable or deny access to programmes is available to users, but it shouldn’t be used in the background.
WhatsApp has emphasised numerous times that users have total control over their microphone settings. “Once granted permission, WhatsApp only accesses the mic when a user is making a call, recording a voice note, or uploading a video, and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption so WhatsApp cannot hear them,” the company said.
