503
Hundreds of smartphone apps are monitoring users through their microphones
(www.the-independent.com)
this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025
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I thought Android has a non bypassable green dot in the notification bar when the micro is on ?
Users need to know what this dot means, and some like children or the elderly will likely not understand the ramifications
I feel like you're missing the point. Showing a green dot still doesn't solve the problem or make it ok, especially when this technology works in the background and can capture sound even while the device is in your pocket, like the article says.
I don't think we should have to be on the lookout for a little dot showing up on the screen constantly. It shouldn't even ask for microphone access unless it's absolutely essential for the app's main purpose. "Features" like this should always be off by default and buried deep in the settings. If people really wanted it (they don't), they'd go in and turn it on themselves.
You're absolutely right but that wasn't my point. I thought that if one of my installed app was doing this, at some point I'd have seen it without even being on the lookout.
This is literally how it works. In modern android you need to explicitly grants microphone permission to apps the first time you use them. Now, if they are clickjacking the permission notification, that's something different, but the article doesn't mention this. You can download your own microphone logs and verify if you are curious about this.
It's probably bypassable too. And, anytime the microphone is used, you have no idea the multiple extents that data is being used for.
Apps can use the microphone in secret and there's no way to know when they're using the microphone? This is a major security flaw in Android!
Are you kidding? You do know that basically anything is hackable, right? And that's why old people put tape and stuff over their cameras if they don't just outright unplug them, right? It seems silly, but like... They've always been right, with their insane passwords and avoiding using their real names and stuff.
afaik Android System Intelligence and apps using that will not show the mic icon