Has Facebook been controlling your camera’s phone without you knowing about it? That’s the case, according to recent reports. While you were scanning Facebook, Facebook was scanning — and perhaps scamming — you.
But the Verge now reports that the new version of the Facebook App for iOS has now been fixed.
The bug showed a camera feed in a tiny portion of the left side of the user’s screen, sources say. Users opening a photo in the app and swiped down were accidentally turning on the camera function. Without giving Facebook permission to use the camera, the bug had no effect. But users weren’t likely to refuse such consent, resources find. The bug exposed an estimated 6.8 million users’ photos to third-party developers.
Facebook itself published a statement which admitted that, “… the app partially navigates to the camera screen when a photo is tapped.” Though there was no evidence presented of any photo being uploaded as a result.
Facebook and users recommend uploading the new version of the Facebook App for iOS in any case. In this day and age, it truly is better to be safe than sorry.
It comes at a tough time for Facebook, coming on the heels of many scandals and newsworthy challenges.
In August of 2018 Facebook finally banned right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and shut down a network of Iranian troll pages and accounts. But both only happened after extreme social pressure.
It comes at a difficult time for the social networking titan. This year, Facebook announced that it would not govern political speech or advertisements on its site, which is believed to open the door to even more interference from foreign powers.
Facebook has withstood criticism by the ACLU, which has publicly claimed that ads on Facebook led employers to favor men over women.
Facebook has seen other troubles too. In the same year, Facebook was hacked, giving criminals access to an estimated 30 million accounts and associated information and accounts. Facebook has also faced or continues to face a lawsuit over its inflated video view metric.
A New York Times investigation from November of 2018 alleged a Facebook covered up of the Russia scandal involving US President Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign, and that the site ordered some opposition research on George Soros, the target of numerous global conspiracy theories.
Despite the controversies, Facebook’s shares remain hot property. Though shares are down more than 16 percent from their July 2018 peaks, the stock trades above industry expectations. The shares even survived a 17 percent drop in a single day, impressive for any offer. In 2019, the stock has gained over 9 percent, which is in line with the S&P 500 index’s SPX over that time.
Facebook may have fixed its app, but there’s still a lot to look at regarding the omnipresent social media website. Still, the company is resilient and remains at the forefront of the modern digital age.
