Bug Blamed for Instagram Unexpectedly Accessing Camera in iOS 14

Saturday July 25, 2020 9:22 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

Some users have noticed that Instagram is unexpectedly accessing the camera, reports The Verge.

instagramlogo

Users have reported that the green "camera on" indicator was displayed in iOS 14 when scrolling through their feed, but not taking a photo or a video. In a statement to The Verge, a spokesperson for Instagram said that the behavior was a bug and is being fixed.

"We only access your camera when you tell us to — for example, when you swipe from Feed to Camera. We found and are fixing a bug in iOS 14 Beta that mistakenly indicates that some people are using the camera when they aren't," the spokesperson said. "We do not access your camera in those instances, and no content is recorded."

Instagram's bug is the latest in a series of unexpected app behavior controversies revealed by iOS 14's aggressive privacy notifications. iOS 14 notifies users when an app or widget pastes text from the clipboard or accesses the camera or microphone. Since the release of the iOS 14 developer and public beta, a large number of popular apps, such as LinkedIn, Reddit, and TikTok, have been discovered to be covertly accessing clipboard data.

Last year, Instagram's parent company, Facebook, was found to be accessing the camera in the background whenever the app was in use, without the users' knowledge.

Tag: Instagram

Related Forum: iOS 14

Top Rated Comments

Johnkoo

41 months ago

Yep, they are all “bugs”, well explained Facebook.

Score: 85 Votes (Like | Disagree)

WordsmithMR

Instagram's bug is the latest in a series of unexpected app behavior controversies revealed by iOS 14's aggressive privacy notifications.

What you call "aggressive" I call transparent and consumer-friendly. Words matter. Please use them accordingly.

Score: 66 Votes (Like | Disagree)

gtmead09

It’s a feature until your caught and suddenly it’s reclassified as a bug. Whoops........

Score: 63 Votes (Like | Disagree)

phalseHUD

Facebook are scum. Thankfully I’ve no need to infect my phone or life with their products/services.

Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)

now i see it

Catch-all phrase when getting busted; "it's a bug!"

Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Apple_Robert

I am rather surprised so many MacRumors veterans use Instagram and Facebook, in spite of the fact said company has been caught lying numerous times to the public. They shouldn’t be trusted in any fashion. For safety purposes, it would be a good idea to remove from your Apple devices and close down accounts.

Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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