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With Camera Permission, iPhone Apps Can Surreptitiously Take Pictures and Videos (vice.com)

Posted by msmash on from the security-woes dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Whenever you give iPhone apps permission to access your camera, the app can surreptitiously take pictures and videos of you as long as the app is in the foreground, a security researcher warned on Wednesday. This is not a bug, but keep it in mind when a random app asks you for permission to access your camera. What this means is that even if you don't see the camera "open" in the form of an on-screen viewfinder, an app can still take photos and videos. It is unknown how many apps currently do this, but Krause created a test app as a proof-of-concept. This behavior is what enables certain "spy" apps like Stealth Cam and Easy Calc - Camera Eye to exist. But even if this behavior is well-known among iOS developers and hardcore users, it's worth remembering that all apps that have camera permission can technically take photos in this way. "It's something most people have no idea about, as they think the camera is only being used if they see the camera content or a LED is blinking," Krause told Motherboard in a chat over Twitter direct message. Krause currently works at Google, but performed and published this research independently of his work there.

9 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. Android apps can as well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So the Google employee also probably knows that Android apps can do the exact same thing. And there are spy camera apps for Android too.

    Slow news day, apparently.

    1. Re:Android apps can as well by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But the new iPhone is going to be released soon, and Google doesn't want it to take the Pixel 2 thunder.
      While in actuality. If you are an Android User you will get an Android Phone, if you are an iPhone user you will get an iPhone. But articles like this help justify your belief that your purchase was somehow superior and you are the smarter consumer because of it.

      Because in order to get people to switch to the other, you really need some major new feature that the other will not have shortly... Or the Other finds a way to really screw it up their next generation product, or fails to keep the product up to date over a long period of time.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:Android apps can as well by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      Translation: all the new technology is being used to spy on us, tracks everything we do and my profile is being sold to thousands of companies for profits, so I'm falling back to older technology where these assholes can't reach me.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  2. Ric Romero, is that you? by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Informative

    Give an app permission to use your camera and it can use your camera. Who knew? Also, how slow a news day does it have to be to greenlight something like this?

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Ric Romero, is that you? by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But we need a reason to hate Apple Products. Otherwise our decision to pick Android Products will seem less important. And buying something that isn't the best deal, is the most mortal sin that an internet user can do today.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  3. No shit, Sherlock? by nospam007 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Whenever you give iPhone apps permission to access your camera, the app can surreptitiously take pictures and videos "

    I'm flabbergasted, next you'll tell us if I give them permission to use the microphone, they can listen to us.

  4. Separate foreground and background permissions by tepples · · Score: 2

    Perhaps the intent is that "foreground microphone" and "background microphone" ought to be split into separate permissions, as ought "foreground camera" and "background camera".

  5. Re:Huh? by Desler · · Score: 2

    While it’s the background? Huh? To quote the summary:

    the app can surreptitiously take pictures and videos of you as long as the app is in the foreground

  6. Lots of snarky replies to this one, but ... by King_TJ · · Score: 2

    I think it's still a really valid question.... Why aren't these phones designed so an indicator light on them has to be lit if the camera is in use by something? Wire that up in the hardware so it's not a light you can bypass via clever software coding.

    Even if you don't care a bit about some app trying to sneakily take pictures or video while you have it running in the background, that impacts your battery life so you'd want to know about it just for that reason.

    Just because I grant an app permission to use the camera doesn't mean I'm ok with it trying to mis-use the camera input for other purposes than its stated function it performs while in the foreground.