Apple Pulls Walkie-Talkie App After Glitch Creates Eavesdropping Vulnerability
12 July 2019 - 05:54AM
Dow Jones News
By Sebastian Herrera
Apple Inc. has disabled the Walkie-Talkie app on Apple Watches
after finding a security flaw that could allow a person to listen
in on someone else's iPhone conversation without consent, the
second eavesdropping-related glitch the company has moved to
address in recent months as scrutiny of tech giants
intensifies.
Apple didn't disclose the nature of the vulnerability but said
that it temporarily disabled the app while it works to fix the
issue. The company said it isn't aware of any instance where a user
was harmed by the glitch, which it said requires specific
conditions and sequences to be exposed.
The Cupertino, Calif., company said it learned of the problem
through an online portal where customers can report issues with
Apple products. The Walkie-Talkie app, which Apple implemented in
its watches through the watchOS5 operating system, allows two users
to send each other audio using a push-to-talk button.
"We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and will
restore the functionality as soon as possible," the company said in
a statement. TechCrunch earlier reported the Walkie-Talkie app
vulnerability.
Big technology companies are facing heightened scrutiny of their
data-privacy practices and their market power, with representatives
from firms including Apple are set to testify at antitrust hearings
next week in Washington, D.C.
Apple said in June that it would add new privacy features to the
iPhone with the release of iOS 13 this fall, including a tool
allowing users to sign into iPhone apps without revealing personal
information, such as an email address. It will also introduce a
feature designed to make it easier for consumers to see how apps
are tracking their location.
In January, Apple scrambled to fix a bug that allowed a user
calling another person via the FaceTime app to listen in on
conversations happening on the other end, even if the other user
hadn't accepted their call. While it required several steps, the
glitch could have been used to eavesdrop on rooms with unattended
devices or to receive an unauthorized video feed from an
iPhone.
While Apple eventually provided a software fix for the issue,
the New York attorney general's office opened an investigation
focusing on Apple's failure to warn consumers about the glitch, as
well as its slow response to the problem. An Arizona teenager and
his mother had reported the issue more than a week before Apple
responded.
A representative for the New York attorney general's office
couldn't immediately be reached for comment on the status of that
investigation.
Apple later apologized for the flaw and said it would compensate
the teen. The company didn't reveal the details of the payment.
Write to Sebastian Herrera at Sebastian.Herrera@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 11, 2019 15:39 ET (19:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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