A few days back a viral tweet by an engineer working in Twitter which stated that WhatsApp microphone was in use even though he was fast asleep. This created fear amongst the people that WhatsApp was spying on them through the microphone at night.
Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk had replied to the viral tweet and said this is weird. This isn't the first warning by Musk, he has often warned against Meta and its applications.
The Tweet by the engineer named Foad Dabiri showed an Android dashboard that showed how WhatsApp was accessing its microphone in the background between 4:20 am and 6:53 am.
In the tweet Dabiri shared the screenshot of the Android dashboard and said, "WhatsApp has been using the microphone in the background, while I was asleep and since I woke up at 6 am (and that's just a part of the timeline!) What's going on?"
Why is Google involved?
Dabiri was using a Google Pixel phone which is why Google got involved in the controversy. WhatsApp had earlier asked Google to look into the matter and a Google spokesperson had also confirmed that the tech giant was going to check on the matter. WhatsApp had also added that the users have complete control over the microphone settings and it can only be accessed when a user is making a call or recording a message.
A Google spokesperson confirmed to Engadget that there indeed was a bug that was impacting WhatsApp users. The spokesperson said, "Based on our current investigation, this reported bug in Android affecting WhatsApp users produces incorrect privacy indicators and notification in the Privacy Dashboard. We are working to develop a fix for users."
