One of the features of iOS 14 allowed Instagram users to discover that the social network was likely to use their smartphone camera without their consent.
Several people said they were surprised when the beta version of Apple's latest mobile operating system told them, with a green light, that the camera was on. At that time, they were looking at their page or those of other Internet users but were not filming or taking a picture, reported The Verge on Saturday.
No espionage, according to Instagram
Affected users may have believed that Instagram had spied on them or had recorded images captured by the camera. However, the company assures that this is not the case and refers to a malfunction of the signal indicating the use of the camera. “We only access the camera when you ask us to do so, for example when you switch from your feed to the camera,” explains an Instagram spokesperson. We have detected a bug which we are in the process of fixing. It is present on the beta version of iOS 14 and erroneously indicates that some users have activated their camera when they have not. "
Facebook, owner of Instagram, had already faced a similar situation last year with the iOS version of its application. The platform activated the smartphone camera in the background without the owner being informed. iOS 14 also showed that several programs, including TikTok, LinkedIn or Reddit, accessed users' clipboards and triggered an alert in the process.
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