FaceTime Listening Bug

There's a serious bug affecting FaceTime right now, which lets someone who calls you hear the audio on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac even if you don't answer the call. There does not appear to be any way to avoid getting these unwanted calls, short of turning off FaceTime. Luckily, it's easy to do. How to Turn Off FaceTime on Your iPhone and iPad Open the Settings app. Scroll down to...

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...

The third beta of iOS 12.2, released to developers this morning, includes a fix for the Group FaceTime bug, which also reenables Group ‌FaceTime‌ on devices running the iOS 12.2 beta. Apple addressed the Group ‌FaceTime‌ bug in the iOS 12.1.4 update released on February 7, but there has been no new iOS 12.2 beta until today, so the Group ‌FaceTime‌ feature has remained unavailable to iOS 12.2...

A few weeks ago, Apple's Group FaceTime was discovered to have a major security flaw which potentially allowed users to listen in on others without their permission. The flaw was quickly publicized forcing Apple to shut down FaceTime servers temporarily while a patch was being created. A week later, Apple released iOS 12.1.4 which addressed the security issue and re-enabled Group ‌FaceTime‌ for...

In a support document outlining the security content of iOS 12.1.4, Apple credited both 14-year-old Grant Thompson of Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson, Arizona and Daven Morris of Arlington, Texas with reporting a major Group FaceTime bug to the company that allowed users to eavesdrop on others. Thompson and his mother are widely known for being the first people to discover and...

Following the release of iOS 12.1.4, Apple today issued an apology to customers and said that it had found and fixed the Group FaceTime bug and an additional security vulnerability involving Live Photos in the ‌FaceTime‌ app. From a statement provided to MacRumors:Today's software update fixes the security bug in Group FaceTime. We again apologize to our customers and we thank them for their ...

Apple today released a new iOS 12.1.4 update for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, with the new software designed to fix an insidious privacy-invading Group FaceTime bug that could be exploited to eavesdrop on conversations. The new iOS 12.1.4 software can be downloaded on all eligible devices over-the-air using the Settings app. To download it, go to Settings --> General --> Software update. ...

Apple is today releasing an updated version of iOS 12.1.4, which is designed to address a major FaceTime bug that was widely publicized last Monday. The new update comes two weeks after the launch of iOS 12.1.3, an update that introduced bug fixes. The iOS 12.1.4 update will be available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the update, go to Settings --> General...

The U.S. Committee on Energy & Commerce is now seeking answers from Apple over the Group FaceTime flaw that allowed people to eavesdrop on conversations. Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) and Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Chairwoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today sent a letter [PDF] to Apple CEO Tim Cook questioning the company about how long it took Apple to...

Apple today issued an apology for its major FaceTime security bug that allowed for eavesdropping on calls. "We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple's servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week," said Apple in a statement issued to MacRumors and other media outlets. For absolute clarity, we've since confirmed that this means...

Apple issued the following statement to MacRumors today in which it apologized for a major FaceTime eavesdropping bug:We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple's servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week. We thank the Thompson family for reporting the bug. We sincerely apologize to our customers who were affected and all who were...

Apple's upcoming fix for the FaceTime eavesdropping bug that was discovered on Monday will come in the form of an iOS 12.1.4 update, according to MacRumors analytics data. We began seeing a handful of visits from devices running an iOS 12.1.4 update on January 29, the day after the bug was widely publicized and spread across the internet. Apple on Monday said that a software fix for the...

Montréal-based law firm Lambert Avocat Inc. has applied for a class action lawsuit against Apple with the Superior Court of Québec, seeking compensation for all persons exposed to a major FaceTime privacy bug that enabled users to eavesdrop on the people they call, according to its website. The proposed lawsuit seeks compensation for all Canadians who used FaceTime on an iPhone, iPad, or...

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Andrew Cuomo are investigating the FaceTime eavesdropping bug on iOS devices that allowed a person to ‌FaceTime‌ another person and hear conversations and see videos even when the call was not answered. According to Bloomberg, the New York officials will be focusing on Apple's failure to warn consumers about the bug and its slow response. ...

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. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. He is suing Apple...

While it only made the news yesterday, it appears Apple was alerted to a major FaceTime privacy bug over a week ago. Twitter user MGT7500 tagged the official Apple Support account in a January 20 tweet claiming that her 14-year-old son discovered a "major security flaw" that allowed him to "listen in to your iPhone/iPad without your approval." The user also tagged Tim Cook on the issue in a...

Apple appears to have disabled Group FaceTime on its server side as a temporary workaround for a major bug discovered today that allowed anyone who places a FaceTime call to listen to audio from the recipient without them answering the call. The bug even extended to video in some circumstances. As spotted by Mark Gurman, Apple's system status page now says "Group ‌FaceTime‌ is temporarily...

There's a major issue affecting FaceTime right now, which all MacRumors readers should be aware of. A bug with Group ‌FaceTime‌ can let someone force a ‌FaceTime‌ call with you, giving them access to your iPhone, iPad, or Mac's video and audio even when you don't accept the ‌FaceTime‌ call. In the video below, we demonstrate how the bug works. We do not condone MacRumors readers invading...

Apple is planning to address a major FaceTime bug that allows anyone who FaceTimes you see the audio and video from your iPhone or iPad even if you don't answer the call. In a statement made to Axios, Apple said it was aware of the issue and has identified a fix that will be "released in a software update later this week." It's not clear when "later this week" is, but Apple will...

There's a major bug in FaceTime right now that lets you connect to someone and hear their audio without the person even accepting the call. This bug is making the rounds on social media, and as 9to5Mac points out, there are major privacy concerns involved. You can force a ‌FaceTime‌ call with someone and hear what they're saying, perhaps even without their knowledge. We tested the bug at Mac...