WhatsApp engulfed in privacy firestorm as users report app recording them while they SLEEP

WhatsApp has been engulfed in a privacy storm amid growing reports from users that the chat app is “listening” to them.

Mark Zuckerberg’s app made headlines on Tuesday when Elon Musk — who is launching his own encrypted messaging system on Twitter — slammed WhatsApp as “untrustworthy.”

The comment was made after a user showed WhatsApp accessing his phone’s microphone while he slept from about 4:30am to nearly 7am.

But it seems to be a long-standing problem, with DailyMail.com finding reports on customer service boards, Reddit, and other social media sites going back as far as five years.

WhatsApp defended itself against Twitter, claiming the issue is a “bug on Android” that sent false information to the user’s privacy dashboard — a Google feature that monitors how and when third-party apps access the camera and microphone.

Here’s what we know about the problem and how YOU can protect yourself in the future:

What’s the problem?

When DailyMail.com asked Meta for more details, a spokesperson referred to the Twitter post.

“In the past 24 hours, we’ve been in touch with a Twitter engineer who posted an issue with his Pixel phone and WhatsApp,” WhatsApp tweeted.

“We believe this is a bug on Android misattributing information in their privacy dashboard and have asked Google to investigate and fix this.

“Users have full control over their microphone settings. Once permission is granted, WhatsApp can only access the microphone when a user calls or records a voice note or video – and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption so WhatsApp cannot hear them.”

DailyMail.com has contacted Google for comment.

The privacy dashboard launched with Android 12 as a way for users to know if apps are snooping.

Located in “Privacy,” it shows which apps are accessing data, what permissions apps are using, and when that access happens, giving users a snapshot.

The feature displays a green light in the top-right corner of the screen when an app has access to the device’s microphone or camera.

Should you be concerned?

WhatsApp states that it collects user account registration information, transaction data, service-related information, information about how you interact with businesses, mobile device information, and IP address.

The company claims not to store messages and recordings permanently.

Musk shared a screenshot of Twitter engineer Foad Dabiri, who posted an image of his Privacy Dashboard.

The screenshot shows that WhatsApp turned on its microphone at least every two minutes between 04:20 and 06:53.

“Whatsapp is using the mic in the background while I slept and since I woke up at 6am (and that’s just part of the timeline!) What’s going on,” Dabiri tweeted.

Musk shared the screenshot in a separate tweet, stating, “WhatsApp cannot be trusted.”

Reports of the mysterious microphone access go back years.

A Redditor posted five years ago that they didn’t use WhatsApp during the day, but the Privacy Dashboard history shows that “the app used the microphone in the background for 11 minutes today.”

There are also reports of problems from the past few months, and people have suggested that a bug caused this.

But if the problem is a bug, users wonder why it hasn’t been fixed since it first surfaced at least five years ago or why the bug didn’t affect other apps.

The issue mainly affects Samsung and Pixel smartphones, according to reports shared on Reddit.

However, iOS users have also noticed that their microphone was on when calling on WhatsApp while they had ‘Mute’ turned on.

iPhone users have also noticed that WhatsApp shows excessive background activity compared to other apps.

How can you protect yourself?

Some Redditors have shared ways to fix the situation, mainly by restarting the smartphone and making sure it has the latest Android update.

Another user suggests revoking the sensitive permissions for the WhatsApp app (microphone and camera), rebooting the device, and then re-enable the permissions.

For Android users: Open Settings, Apps and select WhatsApp.

Then select Permissions and choose Don’t Allow. Users can also choose Always, Allow only when using the app, or Ask every time.

iOS users need to open Settings from their iPhone’s home screen, select WhatsApp, and turn off the Microphone option.

Is Elon Musk using this controversy to promote his own messaging service?

Before Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, the Tesla CEO had long spoken about his distaste for WhatsApp.

In 2023, Musk tweeted “Use Signal” after the term “WhatsApp” was trending on Twitter due to the app’s controversial privacy policy update.

Musk plans to release end-to-end encryption for direct messages (DMs) on Twitter since November 2022, and the CEO announced the feature could be rolled out today

His late night post also revealed that video and voice chat features were “coming soon,” bringing Twitter in line with Meta’s social platforms with similar features.

At midnight, he tweeted, “The latest version of the app lets you DM reply to any post in the thread (not just the most recent) and use any emoji response.

The release of encrypted DMs V1.0 should take place tomorrow.

Intentions to increase Twitter’s privacy were announced in a post late last night, as the billionaire joked that he “couldn’t see your DMs even if there was a gun to [his] head’.

The expected launch is part of Musk’s goal to make Twitter an “Everything app,” with a range of other features, such as payments and long tweets.