Posted on 05/10/2023 6:02:38 AM PDT by Red Badger
Twitter CEO Elon Musk warned users of the Facebook-owned WhatsApp that it is secretly accessing their device microphones without their knowledge and violating their privacy.
Twitter’s director of engineering, Foad Dabri, posted a photo documenting his WhatsApp timeline which showed Zuckerberg’s messaging app was accessing his phone’s mic while he was asleep.
Elon Musk responded to the tweet, simply stating, “WhatsApp cannot be trusted.”
The WhatsApp Company later responded to the Twitter post claiming it had reached out to the Twitter engineer about the issue.
As expected, the company would not accept any blame and attempted to write the issue off as a simple bug, adding they had asked Google to investigate.
“We believe this is a bug on Android that misattributes information in their Privacy Dashboard and have asked Google to investigate and remediate,” the company said.
But the issues with privacy with platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp are becoming more of a concern for Americans.
Four years after Mark Zuckerberg’s company, META, purchased WhatsApp in 2014, Michigan Democrat Senator Gary Peters asked Zuckerberg in 2018 whether or not Facebook was listening to platform users, which many at the time disregarded as a ” conspiracy theory.”
The accusation was that Facebook was secretly listening to users’ conversations to target advertising.
“Yes or no: Does Facebook use audio obtained from mobile devices to enrich personal information about its users?” Peters asked Zuckerberg at the time.
“No,” Zuckerberg replied.
Mediaite noted that there is an audio component for users who post video footage, which “was a bit of an unnecessary clarification, given that the question was about surreptitious recording, not something users were explicitly recording media to share.”
Musk posted a follow-up Tweet about his warning against WhatsApp:
“WhatsApp founders left Meta/Facebook in disgust, started the #deletefacebook campaign, and made major contributions to building Signal. What they learned about Facebook and changes to WhatsApp obviously disturbed them greatly.”
Meta has repeatedly decided that the platform is listening in on users’ private conversations, saying, “Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp do not listen in or use the cell phone microphone to influence advertising in any way.”
Tech Ping!..................
I just assume that everything is listening in. That includes “smart” refrigerators, Roombas, of course TVs, etc.
My toaster is spying on me..............................
Like those Smart TVs
If Zuckerburg were in my 6th grade class I would’ve loved to beat the crap out of him after school. He’s just that type of guy.
.
:)
How many of us have had the experience of talking about something near “Alexa” - and seeing ads pop up that are directly related to that conversation?
This happened right in front of us while we contemplated replacing our refrigerator. Neither one of us “asked’ Alexa, but it began displaying appliance ads during the conversation.
AI has already been with us for some time.
I read the fine print on those apps. They tell you that they can, without your permisson or knowledge, use your camera, microphone, ransack your contact lists, and read emails.
Same here. Was just chatting with a buddy about getting my (then) fiancee’s wedding ring. I had zales and Macy’s and God knows what else popping up on my phone later that day.
They ARE listening to us.
Hell — the social media places aren’t doing anything wrong. ...
Betcha the ‘mike access’ is built into the cpu and hardware and its a backdoor benefit, made in china. Its not a problem, its a feature !
They actually say that in print?.......................
I would like to take Old Zuck for an offshore fishing trip..
About 40 miles........................
“My toaster is spying on me..”
Ha! Maybe mine is, too. We got a new one, all fancy-schmancy, and a button on in blinks continuously. We make toast, then unplug. The incessant blink and beeps on housewares is ridiculous.
With my frickin’ electric cooktop in order to boil water I have to endure 12 beeps — one for each option I choose.
Unlock - beep
Power on - beep
Select burner - beep
Cycle up to hottest heat - beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep
Yes, I wish there was a BEEP OFF selection.
All our appliances are LG: Stove, microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator, washer, dryer, and THEY ALL BEEP every time you make any selection or mode...........................
In the “old days” (actually not that long ago), making such a claim would make you a candidate for a mental institution…
Today, you’re just normal.
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