Apple Wins Lawsuit Over Group FaceTime Eavesdropping Bug

Back in January, there was a major FaceTime bug that allowed a person to force a FaceTime connection with another person, providing access to the user's audio and sometimes video even when the ‌FaceTime‌ call was not accepted.

The bug led to a lawsuit from Houston lawyer Larry Williams II, who claimed that the vulnerability allowed an unknown person to listen in on sworn testimony during a client deposition.

groupfacetime
Williams filed his lawsuit in January, just a day after the bug was publicized, and yesterday, a court ruled in Apple's favor and dismissed the case. The court did not find Williams' argument that the ‌FaceTime‌ vulnerability was "unreasonably dangerous" to be valid, nor did the court believe that he provided sufficient evidence to prove that Apple knew of the defect.

Williams's petition does not allege facts about any available alternative design. He fails to allege facts about the iOS 12.1 software as to whether the defect that allegedly allowed a third party to "eavesdrop" on his group FaceTime call was "unreasonable" for the product's ordinary use. Williams's generalized allegation that the iOS 12.1 software was "unreasonably dangerous" and caused him injury falls short of the Rule 8 threshold.

Williams's petition recites the pleading elements, but it does not allege facts that could show Apple's knowledge of the defect or that Apple could reasonably have foreseen that an unknown third party would listen to Williams's group FaceTime call without his permission.

Williams's claim also fails because he did not state facts that could show that Apple's alleged negligent design or manufacture of the iOS 12.1 software proximately caused his injury.

In the lawsuit, Williams had requested unspecified punitive damages for negligence, product liability, misrepresentation, and warranty breach.

The ‌FaceTime‌ eavesdropping bug was perhaps one of the most serious issues that have affected Apple products in recent history.


There was no way to avoid the malicious ‌FaceTime‌ calls, which exploited a Group ‌FaceTime‌ vulnerability. Apple disabled Group FaceTime server side and kept it unavailable until an update could be released to fix the issue.

The vulnerability was officially addressed in iOS 12.1.4, released in February, and Group ‌FaceTime‌ remains unavailable on all versions of iOS 12 released prior to 12.1.4. Full document on Scribd.

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
Apple Maps 2024

Apple Maps Might Start Showing Ads

Sunday February 16, 2025 7:22 am PST by
Apple is "exploring" the idea of showing search ads in the Apple Maps app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Back in 2022, Gurman said software engineering was "already underway" to display ads in the Apple Maps app, but Apple did not move forward with the idea at the time. Today, he said Apple is "giving this notion more thought" again. This time around, he said Apple has yet to...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
m2 pro mac mini

Apple is Now Selling a Refurbished Mac Mini for Just $319 (!)

Saturday February 15, 2025 9:58 am PST by
A few days ago, we reported that Apple's refurbished Mac mini pricing had a problem, and it appears that Apple has taken note. Apple was offering a refurbished Mac mini with the M2 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $559, which was $50 more than a refurbished Mac mini with the M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. All other key specifications were equal. That's no longer...
iPhone 17 Roundup Feature 2

iPhone Design to Change 'Significantly' This Year

Monday February 17, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker. In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone's design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
Tim Cook Apple Park

10+ Announcements Apple Could Have Rolled Into a February Event

Saturday February 15, 2025 8:00 am PST by
Apple appears to have enough upcoming product announcements to justify a full event this month, yet all signs indicate these reveals will be handled through a series of press releases instead. There are a multitude of rumors from reliable sources about specific announcements in the coming weeks, so here's everything that Apple could have feasibly included in a hypothetical February event: ...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

Apple's Next iPhone SE Launching on Wednesday - Here's What We Know

Friday February 14, 2025 4:04 pm PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an Apple announcement that's coming on Wednesday, February 19, and it's looking like that mystery announcement will be the next-generation iPhone SE. We've been hearing about the iPhone SE 4 for quite some time now, and we essentially know everything to expect. If you want a sneak peek at what's coming, read on. Naming Apple first introduced the iPhone SE in...

Top Rated Comments

nepalisherpa Avatar
75 months ago
While the bug was nasty, it did not warrant a lawsuit. He was just looking to get rich quick.
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bluespark Avatar
75 months ago
Apple did not "win" the lawsuit. The court dismissed the complaint on a "without prejudice" basis. For non-lawyers, that means that plaintiff's complaint had defects, but he's allowed to correct those defects and re-file.

A "win" would be a dismissal with prejudice. That's not what happened here.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
miniyou64 Avatar
75 months ago
The entire legal system is a joke.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fmillion Avatar
75 months ago
I have many things I dislike about Apple, but I'm also a software developer and I know from hard experience that even the best testing strategies and the most stringent code reviews cannot catch EVERY bug. I'm in total agreement with this decision.

This is one of the problems with our world today. As soon as something goes wrong, there's a line of people waiting to accuse you of negligence and malice. It's a wonder anyone actually gets ahead in the world today.

Even if someone - a single person or a very small group - within Apple deliberately introduced a bug that could be misused, it's hardly fair to blame the entire corporation. To make a claim like this you'd have to be able to claim that Apple, as a company, deliberately and with full knowledge introduced and pushed a bug that allowed eavesdropping. And you'd also have to be able to say it was Apple's own decision (i.e. not because of government coercion). Even though I disagree with many of Apple's business practices, I can't believe the company would approve that willingly and knowingly.

We need to stop assuming everyone is out to get us, that everyone is deliberately acting against us. Sometimes mistakes are made. Sometimes you have to fix your mistake. But it's not fair to accuse anyone of malice when the fact is that it was just a mistake.

Of course, the problem with our legal system - and with any system for that matter - is that unless someone stupidly admitted in a recording or letter that they were acting maliciously, you cannot prove what was going through anyone's head.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gnasher729 Avatar
75 months ago
The entire legal system is a joke.
Please explain why you think that. Do you disagree with the judgment?
[doublepost=1557513703][/doublepost]
But Apple DID say "what happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone" and that's a lie
A phone call obviously doesn't stay on your phone.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kaibelf Avatar
75 months ago
Of course.
Jussie Smollett and Laurie Loughlin are also innocent.
And Harvey Weinstein is still a free man.
What are you even talking about? The guy lied and made up some story by trying to stage an eavesdropped deposition AFTER the bug was reported.

Sadly true. Clearly this judge was purchased by Tim Cook. A real judge would have forced Apple to pay up.
I suppose you have evidence to back up your defamatory bribery accusations against the judge and Mr. Cook? Or are you just lying?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)