WhatsApp, one of the most popular instant messaging platforms in the world, has come to the fore with a security issue in the last few weeks. Many users reported that WhatsApp uses the microphone even when the app is not open.
This situation, which caused many complaints, was noticed through the “Privacy Control Panel” we see on Android. This feature, which has been on devices since Android 12, adds a green notification to the upper right corner of the screen and notifies users when the microphone is used.
Complaints showing that the app is using the microphone come from users with Android operating systems such as Samsung and Pixel
Users from different platforms shared the details of the problems they experienced. For example, a Pixel user who wrote to Google Help stated that he observed that the microphone remained on after calling WhatsApp for the last 15-20 days. Yet another Pixel phone user stated that WhatsApp allows him to use his microphone, and that the microphone continues to be used after exiting the application.
WhatsApp has been using the microphone in the background, while I was asleep and since I woke up at 6AM (and that's just a part of the timeline!) What's going on? pic.twitter.com/pNIfe4VlHV
— Foad Dabiri (@foaddabiri) May 6, 2023
On the other hand, many complaints about the problem came from Twitter. In the tweet you see above, it can be seen that WhatsApp continues to use the microphone in the background. The user says that his microphone is used even when he is sleeping at 6 am.
Although most of the complaints are from Google’s Pixel phones, they were also seen on Samsung devices, including the Galaxy S23. This showed that it could be a problem with Android in general. There is no information about whether it is experienced on iOS yet.
Elon Musk also tweeted on the subject: “WhatsApp cannot be trusted”
WhatsApp cannot be trusted https://t.co/3gdNxZOLLy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2023
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, also made a post after this problem was revealed. By targeting the platform, Musk said it was unreliable and said, “WhatsApp cannot be trusted.”
Yeah.
Or that WhatsApp founders left Meta/Facebook in disgust, started #deletefacebook campaign & made major contributions to building Signal.
What they learned about Facebook & changes to WhatsApp obviously disturbed them greatly.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2023
The famous billionaire later responded to another tweet by a Twitter user named Gannon Breslin saying, “It’s amazing that so many people don’t realize that WhatsApp belongs to Meta/Facebook.” Musk talked about the departure of the WhatsApp founders from the platform, this time directly targeting Meta:
“Yes. Or it’s unbelievable that the WhatsApp founders didn’t know that he left Meta/Facebook in disgust, launched a Facebook deletion campaign, and contributed greatly to the creation of Signal. What they learned about Facebook and the changes in WhatsApp made them very uncomfortable.”
Although there is no explanation from WhatsApp, the problem is said to be an error in the application.
WhatsApp did not share any explanation as to why this situation occurred and how it could be resolved. However, some reports say that the microphone usage may be due to a bug in the app and suggest several methods to get rid of it.
There are also some solutions to prevent the app from using the microphone
According to a Reddit user, WhatsApp’s latest update may have fixed this situation. Upgrading to the latest available version and restarting the phone may prevent microphone usage.
Another method is to revoke WhatsApp’s permissions for things like microphone and camera. In this method, it is recommended to restart the phone and reactivate the permissions after the permissions are revoked.
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