Attorney sues Apple over FaceTime bug for eavesdropping

Apple has been sued by a Houston based attorney while claiming that a bug recently found in iPhone’s software allowed an unknown person to eavesdrop in on his private conversation with a client. The lawsuit has been filed by Larry Williams late on January 28, 2019 seeking punitive damaged. Williams has claimed that someone listened to him conduct a deposition by accessing the microphone of his iPhone with the help of a bug that was found within iOS 12.1’s Group FaceTime calling feature.

Williams in his complaint said, “Essentially the product converts a person’s personal iPhone into a microphone that can be answered by an unknown third party to listen and record one’s most intimate conversations without consent”. The attorney added that the company is guilty of negligence, warranty breach and product misinterpretation. Apple is yet to respond to a leading daily’s request for comment.

The bug was surfaced last week and accessible by the caller starting a FaceTime call and then when the call in ringing. It add themselves again to it and making it a Group FaceTime call. The microphone of the call recipient would then transmit audio to the iPhone the call originated from without the call being picked up.

After the bug was discovered, the instructions on how to access it was quickly spread on the social media. However, not long after, the instructions were publicized, Apple said that it is working on fixing the bug with a software update that will be released later this week. On January 29, Facebook announced that it has disabled its FaceTime video and calling application and is yet to be reinstated. Apple had also released a statement saying that it is aware if the issue and are working to fix the problem. Andrew Cuomo, the New York Governor said that people must disable the app until Apple fixes the issue.

Photo Credits: Mashable