Have you noticed that the group FaceTime feature is currently unavailable on your iPhone? Well, this is because Apple is currently working to fix a feature that allowed ‘eavesdropping’ on conversations.
The company has acknowledged a flaw in its software which allowed diallers to listen in on the conversations of people they were calling, even if they didn’t pick up. It also occasionally shared a video of the call receiver before they answered.
The flaw, first revealed by the 9to5Mac blog, allegedly occurs when both iPhone users have version 12.1 or newer of iOS. It was also found that if you had pressed the volume button to silence that call, it would begin videoing.
The eavesdropping ends when the call rings out without being answered.
According to Apple’s status page, the FaceTime function currently has issues and is temporarily unavailable.
In a statement, Apple said: “We’re aware of this issue and we have identified a fix that will be released in a software update later this week.”
The news comes at an awkward time for Apple, after they have been boasting about data privacy for customers – but social media users haven’t been letting the company off lightly. Following the news of the glitch, people have taken to Twitter to shame the company.
If you’re concerned about your privacy, it is possible to disable FaceTime completely on your iPhone; just open your settings, choose FaceTime, and switch the button to ‘off’. This also works on iPads and Macs.
Apple is due to release a new update, which will allegedly fix the bug, in the coming weeks.
