As soon as iOS 14 was released, one thing was clear that the OS has a lot of new features that make sure that the user gets to know when the data or camera is being accessed by the application installed on their device. The new iOS added many privacy features that did not allow us to randomly use the camera of the device without the users knowing about it.
After this update, a lot of issues came with apps like LinkedIn, Reddit, and TikTok, which copied the content from the clipboard without letting the users know about it. Now the name of popular app Instagram has been added to the list, where users have observed that the indicator for camera remains “in use” when the users are just browsing the feed.
A similar issue was found last year with the parent company Facebook, where the users reported that the app opens the camera in the background, without the user’s permission. A simple fix as patched to resolve the issue by Facebook. As per Instagram, they have assured the users that they do not use any images or data from the camera while using Instagram. They are also already working on releasing a patch for the same that will fix the issue immediately. However, after the update to the iOS beta version, many questions have emerged on how the applications installed on our phone are using the data without the user’s permission.
The privacy updates in iOS are revealing a lot of information about such applications. It was earlier found that more than 50 iOS apps access clipboard data in the background, without letting the users know about it. It does pose a real threat to the user’s privacy and information as it is very difficult to know which apps are snooping on users’ data.