Why is Facebook's iOS app accessing my camera while I do unrelated things, users ask

Facebook says, oops, it's 'likely' a bug.

Facebook users, who really should reconsider their life choices right about now, are noticing that Facebook's iOS app is accessing their iPhone or iPad camera while they're doing completely unrelated things, like skimming their FB feed to catch up on what friends are posting. One workaround is to go into your permissions and revoke the app's right to use your camera.

Another is to delete the app and kill your account and never look back, but to each their own — and some folks kind of need to use it for work or other reasons, so don't judge.

“The issue came to light through several posts on Twitter,” reports Alfred Ng for CNET, “Users noted that their cameras were activated behind Facebook's app as they were watching videos or looking at photos on the social network.”

After people clicked on the video to full screen, returning it back to normal would create a bug in which Facebook's mobile layout was slightly shifted to the right. With the open space on the left, you could now see the phone's camera activated in the background. This was documented in multiple cases, with the earliest incident on Nov. 2.
It's since been tweeted a couple other times, and CNET has also been able to replicate the issue.

Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, but Guy Rosen, its vice president of integrity, tweeted Tuesday that this seems like a bug and the company's looking into the matter.

More details on the “bug” here: Facebook bug shows camera activated in background during app use.


[via techmeme.com]