WhatsApp acted quickly and worked closely with Google (Image: Reuters)
Google acknowledged that a recent bug in their operating system affected a limited number of WhatsApp users, resulting in incorrect privacy indicators and notifications in the Android Privacy Dashboard.
Google has fixed a bug that allowed WhatsApp to access Android users’ microphones. The US tech giant issued an apology and thanked WhatsApp for their cooperation in addressing the issue. Also, the solution is ready in the latest update of WhatsApp for Android and available for download on the Google Play Store.
Android developers took to the microblogging platform Twitter, where they announced the fix for the Android bug that was causing confusion among WhatsApp users.
A recent Android bug affecting a limited number of WhatsApp users caused erroneous privacy indicators and notifications in the Android privacy dashboard. Users can now update their WhatsApp app to resolve this issue.
We thank WhatsApp for their cooperation and apologize…
— Android Developers (@AndroidDev) June 21, 2023
In their tweet, Google acknowledged that a recent bug in their operating system affected a limited number of WhatsApp users, resulting in incorrect privacy indicators and notifications in the Android Privacy Dashboard.
They thanked WhatsApp for working with them to resolve the issue and apologized for any confusion caused by the bug. In the same tweet, they also asked users to update their WhatsApp app to address the issue.
Last month, allegations were made against WhatsApp for alleged misuse of the background microphone. These claims attracted a lot of attention, especially after a tweet shared by Elon Musk. WhatsApp quickly posted a statement attributing the problem to a bug in the Android system’s privacy dashboard.
The company also emphasized its commitment to user privacy and immediately involved Google in investigating and resolving the situation.
Google spokesperson later confirmed that it was a bug in the Android system. In fact, the app wasn’t actually using the microphone in the background, as the Android OS erroneously displayed privacy indicators to a limited number of WhatsApp users.
According to reports, WhatsApp took swift action and worked closely with Google to quickly address the issue in the Android operating system.
The fix for privacy indicators in the Privacy Dashboard is available after installing the latest version of WhatsApp for Android from the Google Play Store.
