Apple Hit With Lawsuit Over FaceTime Eavesdropping Bug

Apple is already facing its first lawsuit over the FaceTime eavesdropping bug that was discovered just last night, reports Bloomberg.

Houston lawyer Larry Williams II today filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming that his iPhone allowed an unknown person to listen in on sworn testimony during a client deposition.


He is suing Apple for unspecified punitive damages for negligence, product liability, misrepresentation, and warranty breach. The bug, says Williams, violates the privacy of a person's "most intimate conversations without consent."

The FaceTime bug in question was widely publicized yesterday after making the rounds on social media. By exploiting a bug in Group ‌FaceTime‌, a person could force a FaceTime connection with another person, providing access to a user's audio and sometimes video even when the ‌FaceTime‌ call was not accepted.

There was no way to avoid malicious ‌FaceTime‌ calls forced to connect in this manner short of turning off ‌FaceTime‌, but after the issue received attention, Apple disabled Group ‌FaceTime‌ server side, and the feature remains unavailable. With Group ‌FaceTime‌ turned off, the exploit is not available and no one is in danger of being spied on via their Apple devices through the ‌FaceTime‌ bug.

Apple is planning to implement a fix via a software update later this week, but the company has not commented on how long this bug was available before it was widely shared. Group ‌FaceTime‌ has been available since iOS 12.1 was released in October.

A woman whose teenage son initially discovered the bug says that she contacted Apple multiple times starting on January 20, and even sent a video demonstrating the issue, but she received no response from the company.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
top stories 2025 12 04a

Top Stories: iOS 26.2 Coming Soon, Apple Execs Depart, and More

Saturday December 6, 2025 6:00 am PST by
You'd expect things to be starting to wind down for the holidays by now, but that doesn't seem to be the case yet in the world of Apple news, with Apple just about ready to release iOS 26.2 and other operating system updates to the public. There was also a flurry of news this week about Apple executive departures, some expected and some not so expected, while we also learned that Apple and...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....

Top Rated Comments

Bornee35 Avatar
90 months ago
So he's admitting to having a prohibited item in the courtroom.
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MagMan1979 Avatar
90 months ago
Well that didn’t take long for the shysters to come out from under their rock!
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Haust Avatar
90 months ago
So he's admitting to having a prohibited item in the courtroom.
Taking a deposition doesn’t mean he was in court. He could have been in his own office while the person was being deposed. The angle for Apple to take would be to try and prove that he staged the deposition after learning about the bug in order to file a lawsuit. Apple’s failure to deal with this sooner will cost them and ultimately this will be good for the consumer.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Oridus Avatar
90 months ago
So he's admitting to having a prohibited item in the courtroom.
It was a deposition his client was at, most likely not in a court room. Sworn depositions generally happen in an office or conference room, usually at a law firm if I'm not mistaken.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
1050792 Avatar
90 months ago
Are you saying Android is more polished than iOS or do you consider Android to be in the same boat? Because those are really your two choices for top $ phones.
Nope. He is saying iOS is too unpolished for the premium price you pay, he didn't even mention Android. Your argument is like saying "I am a thief but he is a thief too!".
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrJohnnyN Avatar
90 months ago
We all knew this was coming.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)