WhatsApp using camera and microphone in background

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bewer

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Android alerted me to WhatsApp using my phone's camera and microphone in the background (see attached image). This concerns me, has anyone else experienced this behaviour?

does anyone know why WhatsApp is doing here?

SmartSelect_20180724-122640_SecurityLogAgent.jpg

EDIT: here is how to get to the screen:
Settings > Lock screen and security > App permission monitor > Permission History

EDIT2: Android 8.0.0

EDIT3: [RESOLVED]: After [MENTION=529245]Recallza[/MENTION]'s comment, I can confirm that this happens when you have WhatsApp calls or video calls.
 
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Facebook is a multi-billion dollar company, and their entire worth is in your data.
So naturally they would want to gather that precious data as much as they can.

I recommend you download "No Root Firewall" app and monitor its connections.
 
Where did you find permissions history? All I find is the normal permissions of the app.
 
Congratulations comrade for successfully spying on yourself and submitting the evidence to the KGB.. :crylaugh:
 
Settings > Lock screen and security > App permission monitor > Permission History
 
Android 8, I have that setting, but it's empty, as in no apps were detected using background services.
 
I would imagine those are the times that you opened the app and it actively checks permissions to be sure the functionality is at the ready should you want to use it.

No tinfoil required.
 
https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/02/s...-you-through-the-smartphones-mic-says-report/

According to a recent report from The NYT, a number of apps using software from a company called Alphonso use the smartphone’s microphone to listen for audio signals in TV ads and programs, then sometimes even connect that data with places you visit or the movies you go see.
Click to expand...

https://www.reddit.com/r/*******des...tsapp_used_my_microphone_4_times_while_i_was/
Was with my wife in the hospital. Nurse comes in and turns out she is from Serbia. She a says a few things in Serbian to our newborn while we are talking. My wife gets an ad on Facebook in Serbian a few hours later. That sealed it for me.
Click to expand...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/business/media/alphonso-app-tracking.html?_r=1

:D
 
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SauRoNZA said:
I would imagine those are the times that you opened the app and it actively checks permissions to be sure the functionality is at the ready should you want to use it.

No tinfoil required.
Click to expand...

That would have been my guess.

Bixby and other assorted so called digital assistants are a different story though. That **** really does listen in real time and the NSA really does access it.
 
SauRoNZA said:
I would imagine those are the times that you opened the app and it actively checks permissions to be sure the functionality is at the ready should you want to use it.

No tinfoil required.
Click to expand...
Background activity of an app refer to things happening when the app is not displayed on screen. Or did that change on Oreo?
 
cpu. said:
Background activity of an app refer to things happening when the app is not displayed on screen. Or did that change on Oreo?
Click to expand...

Not an android nerd but in my mind background would be any unattended access. As in not specifically called by the user.

However doesn’t the voice Assistant integrate with WhatsApp? That would explain it as purely background as well.
 
Don't see any whatsapp in my history
8fcd90249821c5856e10bb5848488dc3.jpg
 
So I realised that by getting a whatsapp call without the application being open, it shows the microphone usage in the history.
 
bewer said:
Android alerted me to WhatsApp using my phone's camera and microphone in the background (see attached image). This concerns me, has anyone else experienced this behaviour?

does anyone know why WhatsApp is doing here?

View attachment 539263

EDIT: here is how to get to the screen:
Settings > Lock screen and security > App permission monitor > Permission History

EDIT2: Android 8.0.0
Click to expand...
Wow! You really learn something new everyday, lol! Nice find.

I going through it, a lot of apps wanting permission to Camera and Microphone that don't need it.
 
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