Congress Wants Written Answers from Apple on FaceTime Privacy Glitch

by Luana Pascu on February 7, 2019

Apple is not getting off so easily with the FaceTime privacy violation incident. Two members of the US Congress are “deeply troubled” that the company didn’t immediately address the software glitch end demand further explanations for an issue they think could easily create “ultimate spying machines,” writes Reuters.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone and Representative Jan Schakowsky, both Democrats, wrote a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook demanding to know when the company was first made aware of the privacy intrusion, how consumer privacy may have been affected and “whether there are other undisclosed bugs that currently exist and have not been addressed.” They are calling for transparency with the outcome of the investigation and a written response to their questions.

The FaceTime privacy violation was detected by a 14-year-old and his mom who were trying to use the group call feature, but found that strangers could easily eavesdrop on their conversation even before the call officially started. Once the two came across the flaw, they repeatedly contacted Apple to fix it.

“Your company and others must proactively ensure devices and applications protect consumer privacy, immediately act when a vulnerability is identified and address any harm caused when you fail to meet your obligations to consumers,” reads the letter. “We do not believe Apple has been as transparent as this serious issue requires.”

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Once the software bug was publicly disclosed, Apple disabled the feature and is working on software updates to fix the issue in the near future.

The issue doesn’t seem to have affected Apple’s business strength and stock price, as it has regained its title of “most valuable public company in the world,” ahead of Amazon and Microsoft, writes CNBC.