Google fixes Android bug that erroneously claimed that WhatsApp was accessing users’ microphones, offers apologies

A report from last month suggested how some Android users were affected by a bug that allowed WhatsApp to access the device's microphone all the time. Now, the bug has been fixed by Google. In a tweet, the tech giant said: "A recent Android bug that affected a limited number of WhatsApp users caused erroneous privacy indicators and notifications on the Android privacy panel."

"Users can now update their WhatsApp app to fix this issue. We thank WhatsApp for their partnership and apologize for any confusion this bug may have caused users," it added.

A recent Android bug affecting a limited number of WhatsApp users produced erroneous privacy indicators and notifications in the Android Privacy Dashboard. Users can now update their WhatsApp app to address this issue.

Users can now update their WhatsApp app to address this issue.

We thank WhatsApp for their partnership and apologize…

— Android Developers (@AndroidDev) June 21, 2023

Twitter engineer Foad Dabiri in a tweet last month, 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?".

In his post, Elon Musk responded by saying that WhatsApp cannot be trusted.

At the time, WhatsApp said it was a "bug in Android that attributes wrong information in its privacy panel" instead of the app accessing the microphone even when it's not needed.

Now that Google has fixed the bug, it is recommended that WhatsApp Android users update their app.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp is rolling out a new security feature that will automatically silence incoming calls from unknown numbers. The platform calls the function "Mute Unknown Callers". Announcing the feature via a blog post, WhatsApp says that 'Silence Unknown Callers' is designed to give its users more privacy and control of their incoming calls. The new feature will automatically screen out spam, scams, and calls from unknown callers for added protection.

Google Statement

Taking to Twitter, the search engine giant said, “A recent Android bug affecting a limited number of WhatsApp users produced erroneous privacy indicators and notifications in the Android Privacy Dashboard. Users can now update their WhatsApp app to address this issue. We thank WhatsApp for their partnership and apologise for any confusion this bug may have caused users.”