This bug illustrates the privacy issues caused by surrounding ourselves with devices containing cameras and microphones

It has been reported that there is a serious bug in Apple's FaceTime video calling platform that has been bouncing around the news: you can call somebody via FaceTime and listen to their phone’s microphone regardless of whether the person you’re calling picks up.

Amit Sethi, senior principal consultant at Synopsys, said: "This bug illustrates the privacy issues caused by surrounding ourselves with devices containing cameras and microphones. Phones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs, smart speakers, etc. contain microphones that can be listening to you at any point. If the software on the devices is not malicious and doesn’t contain bugs like this, the microphones should only be on at times you expect.

"While security controls like permissions and app store reviews are in place, these are not perfect. The problem is that users don’t know when these devices are listening as most modern devices don’t have an indicator like a LED that turns on whenever the camera and/or microphone is on.

"Even if such an indicator was present, you wouldn’t know who the video/audio was being transmitted to. This is simply the price we pay for the convenience and features that these Internet-connected devices provide. If you need to be 100 percent certain that you aren’t being recorded, don’t have any Internet-connected devices with microphones or cameras around."