Apple Hit With Lawsuit Over FaceTime Eavesdropping Bug

[MacRumors]

Apple is already facing its first lawsuit over the FaceTime eavesdropping bug that was discovered just last night, reports Bloomberg.

Houston lawyer Larry Williams II today filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming that his iPhone allowed an unknown person to listen in on sworn testimony during a client deposition.

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He is suing Apple for unspecified punitive damages for negligence, product liability, misrepresentation, and warranty breach. The bug, says Williams, violates the privacy of a person's "most intimate conversations without consent."

The FaceTime bug in question was widely publicized yesterday after making the rounds on social media. By exploiting a bug in Group FaceTime, a person could force a FaceTime connection with another person, providing access to a user's audio and sometimes video even when the FaceTime call was not accepted.

There was no way to avoid malicious FaceTime calls forced to connect in this manner short of turning off FaceTime, but after the issue received attention, Apple disabled Group FaceTime server side, and the feature remains unavailable. With Group FaceTime turned off, the exploit is not available and no one is in danger of being spied on via their Apple devices through the FaceTime bug.

Apple is planning to implement a fix via a software update later this week, but the company has not commented on how long this bug was available before it was widely shared. Group FaceTime has been available since iOS 12.1 was released in October.

A woman whose teenage son initially discovered the bug says that she contacted Apple multiple times starting on January 20, and even sent a video demonstrating the issue, but she received no response from the company.

Article Link: Apple Hit With Lawsuit Over FaceTime Eavesdropping Bug

 

[max2]

Not surprised.

It was bound to happen.

 

[DrJohnnyN]

We all knew this was coming.

 

[I7guy]

Either thrown out of court or will take 5+ years to settle or be dismissed.

Has it been proven who actually discovered or reported this bug first?

 

[MagMan1979]

Well that didn’t take long for the shysters to come out from under their rock!

 

[Naraxus]

That was quick

 

[Bornee35]

So he's admitting to having a prohibited item in the courtroom.

 

[nviz22]

Apple is more unpolished with its software than I would expect for paying top $ for a phone. That includes at the XR price point too.

 

[Eduardo75890]

So he's admitting to having a prohibited item in the courtroom.

Nice come back I’ll give that 10 stars

 

[max2]

Wow by seconds. I am amazed.

 

[Oridus]

Apple is more unpolished with its software than I would expect for paying top $ for a phone. That includes at the XR price point too.

Are you saying Android is more polished than iOS or do you consider Android to be in the same boat? Because those are really your two choices for top $ phones.

 

[DamFu]

People always trying to get any easy buck.

 

[Haust]

So he's admitting to having a prohibited item in the courtroom.

Taking a deposition doesn’t mean he was in court. He could have been in his own office while the person was being deposed. The angle for Apple to take would be to try and prove that he staged the deposition after learning about the bug in order to file a lawsuit. Apple’s failure to deal with this sooner will cost them and ultimately this will be good for the consumer.

 

[genovelle]

I think I will file suit against her for knowingly promoting a system flaw in social media in a video teaching the world how to do it.

 

[Oridus]

So he's admitting to having a prohibited item in the courtroom.

It was a deposition his client was at, most likely not in a court room. Sworn depositions generally happen in an office or conference room, usually at a law firm if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Delgibbons]

Apple is already facing its first lawsuit over the FaceTime eavesdropping bug that was discovered just last night, reports Bloomberg.

Houston lawyer Larry Williams II today filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming that his iPhone allowed an unknown person to listen in on sworn testimony during a client deposition.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.​

He is suing Apple for unspecified punitive damages for negligence, product liability, misrepresentation, and warranty breach. The bug, says Williams, violates the privacy of a person's "most intimate conversations without consent."

The FaceTime bug in question was widely publicized yesterday after making the rounds on social media. By exploiting a bug in Group FaceTime, a person could force a FaceTime connection with another person, providing access to a user's audio and sometimes video even when the FaceTime call was not accepted.

There was no way to avoid malicious FaceTime calls forced to connect in this manner short of turning off FaceTime, but after the issue received attention, Apple disabled Group FaceTime server side, and the feature remains unavailable. With Group FaceTime turned off, the exploit is not available and no one is in danger of being spied on via their Apple devices through the FaceTime bug.

Apple is planning to implement a fix via a software update later this week, but the company has not commented on how long this bug was available before it was widely shared. Group FaceTime has been available since iOS 12.1 was released in October.

A woman whose teenage son initially discovered the bug says that she contacted Apple multiple times starting on January 20, and even sent a video demonstrating the issue, but she received no response from the company.

Article Link: Apple Hit With Lawsuit Over FaceTime Eavesdropping Bug

I'm the first to criticise Apple for their "better than everyone on security" nonsense, and this has bitten them on the ass.

But I call ******** on this

 

[Baymowe335]

What was the loss or damage?

Apple almost instantly took down Group FaceTime and I don’t think anyone can demonstrate damages.

Thrown out or minimal impact. Money grab. Next.

 

[genovelle]

Taking a deposition doesn’t mean he was in court. He could have been in his own office while the person was being deposed. The angle for Apple to take would be to try and prove that he staged the deposition after learning about the bug in order to file a lawsuit. Apple’s failure to deal with this sooner will cost them and ultimately this will be good for the consumer.

Dealing with it sooner is relative and disabling an entire network for a glitch that only a crazy person would try to do and likely knew this from checking the servers.

 

[Bornee35]

Taking a deposition doesn’t mean he was in court. He could have been in his own office while the person was being deposed. The angle for Apple to take would be to try and prove that he staged the deposition after learning about the bug in order to file a lawsuit. Apple’s failure to deal with this sooner will cost them and ultimately this will be good for the consumer.

but that doesn't suit my agenda

 

[nviz22]

Are you saying Android is more polished than iOS or do you consider Android to be in the same boat? Because those are really your two choices for top $ phones.

I have owned iOS products for a long time. I am just saying that you would expect better than iOS 11 bugs or FaceTime privacy bugs being caught through internal testing.

$750 is a lot of $ for a phone. Apple has seen plenty of hardware and software issues. Bending iPads, temperatures impacting the original iPhone X devices, stuff like that.

Nobody on the Android side can provide balance between clean software, 3+ years of software support, and hardware features.

I can go about the pros and cons about many Android OEMs. But if I were spending $ on an Android device, I would go OP6T knowing that the corners they cut can be offset with smart software management like not downloading apps you don't recognize.

 

[pat500000]

Nicholas cage sequel movie of “gone in 60 seconds”......latest sequel “sued in few days.”

 

[steve09090]

So what other steps did the lawyer take to ensure their clients privacy? Black plastic on the walls, sweeping the room for 'bugs' or is it just that using a phone, knowing that any phone can be used as a listening device is the most secure form of recording information?

 

[Chloros]

What if Apple was in the wrong on this? Oh wait...Apple is never wrong.

 

[1050792]

Are you saying Android is more polished than iOS or do you consider Android to be in the same boat? Because those are really your two choices for top $ phones.

Nope. He is saying iOS is too unpolished for the premium price you pay, he didn't even mention Android. Your argument is like saying "I am a thief but he is a thief too!".

 

[genovelle]

What if Apple was in the wrong on this? Oh wait...Apple is never wrong.

If Apple posted a video of how to break in to your car if you have a certain model they would definitely be in the wrong for teaching the general public how to do so.