Facebook app was automatically activating the rear cameras of iPhones while the app was being used. Facebook has since acknowledged the issue and noted that it was a bug, which was inadvertently introduced in the version 246 of the company’s app. A new version of Facebook for iOS has been released in App Store, fixing the bug.

Found a @facebook #security & #privacy issue. When the app is open it actively uses the camera. I found a bug in the app that lets you see the camera open behind your feed. Note that I had the camera pointed at the carpet. pic.twitter.com/B8b9oE1nbl

— Joshua Maddux (@JoshuaMaddux) November 10, 2019

Several iPhone users were left shocked to find their iPhone’s camera automatically running in the background when they opened Facebook. The issue was first flagged by a Twitter user going by the name Joshua Maddux. He shared footage where in his phone’s camera can be seen active in the background as he scrolls through his Facebook feed.

We recently discovered our iOS app incorrectly launched in landscape. In fixing that last week in v246 we inadvertently introduced a bug where the app partially navigates to the camera screen when a photo is tapped. We have no evidence of photos/videos uploaded due to this.

— Guy Rosen (@guyro) November 12, 2019

“We’ve confirmed that we didn’t upload anything to FB due to this bug and that the camera didn’t capture anything since it was in preview mode. We’ve submitted a fixed version to the App Store which is already rolling out.” said Facebook Vice President of Integrity Guy Rosen. The bug appears to only affect iPhone users running the latest iOS 13 software.