Google has fixed a major Privacy Dashboard bug that was affecting WhatsApp users on Android and causing the messaging app to constantly access the device's microphone. The issue has now been resolved by the tech giant, it has said. The issue was first discovered by a Twitter engineer named Foad Dabiri. The user had stated that his device's Privacy Dashboard showed WhatsApp was frequently accessing his microphone. Google and Meta-owned WhatsApp jointly acknowledged the bug's impact on several WhatsApp users. The tech giant also thanked WhatsApp for its partnership to address the flaw.
Android Developers official Twitter handle has acknowledged the issue and wrote in a tweet: “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 apologize for any confusion this bug may have caused users."
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To recall, earlier in May, Google identified a security bug in Android that led to “incorrect privacy indicators and notifications in the privacy dashboard” and gave way to WhatsApp "accessing the microphone of the device" even when the messaging platform was not in use. Google later went on to say it was working towards fixing the vulnerability, according to media reports.
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It should be noted that Meta-owned WhatsApp had blamed Google after a claim made by Dabiri, who accused WhatsApp of accessing his microphone while he was sleeping. According to Dabiri, "WhatsApp has been using the microphone in the background while I was asleep and since I woke up at 6 AM."
WhatsApp had clarified its microphone usage policy, stating, "Once permission is granted, WhatsApp only accesses the microphone when a user is making a call, recording a voice note, or video. Furthermore, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption, ensuring that WhatsApp cannot listen to them."