You might never expect someone to be watching you through the camera on your smartphone. The reality is, though, it happens more often than you think.
It doesn’t matter where you’re at, your iPhone could always be listening or even watching.
“It’s rare, but it’s not a myth,” said Christian Wartchow, CEO of CyberSecure IT Solutions.
Beware of Hackers
Wartchow is an IT professional. He’s dealt first hand with people having their phones hacked right here in Southwest Florida.
“Audios yes. Cameras not so much,” he said.
One case was so severe, the person on the other end started talking back.
“People then turning on FaceTime Audio and speaking to people through the phone, which really freaked the one individual I’m thinking about, really freaked them out,” Wartchow said.
It can happen by clicking a link, downloading the wrong app or landing on the wrong website.
“That’s clicked and opened and then that launches malware, a virus or even ransomware,” he said.
That’s why Apple added small green and orange dots to the top right corner of the screen of devices in their latest operating system update, iOS 14.
How to tell if someone is watching you
Hannah Bennet has an iPhone, but never realized the indicators were there.
NBC2 Reporter Gage Goulding: “Did you ever notice that there before?”
Hannah: “Uh, no. Not really.”
The dots tell your important information.
“When you’re talking on the phone, you’ll see an orange light, or if the camera is activated you’ll see a green little dot,” Wartchow explained.
In downtown Fort Myers, intuition of someone watching and listening in on their personal lives was confirmed.
“I always have the suspicion,” Donald Olson said.
Donald and Hannah both admitted they take their phones places where, well, they don’t want to be seen or heard.
Gage: “Would you think twice about taking your phone into the bathroom or shower with you?”
Hannah: “Oh yeah, definitely.”
Gage: “Would you think twice about maybe taking your phone into the bathroom with you?”
Donald: “Sure. I guess I would.”
Gage: “You wouldn’t want somebody to watch you or listen to what you’re doing in there?”
Donald: “Yeah I suppose that would be, that’s kind of a private place.”
Others aren’t that concerned about who is hearing them sing in the shower, or even sees them.
“I don’t really worry about it. I think a lot of people might be a little paranoid,” said Vincent Lichter. “If somebody sees me naked, then I hope they enjoy it.”
Gathering Data
Aside from what happens in the bathroom, what your phone hears could lead to what kind of ads you see.
“When they’re listening, they’re actually gathering data, usage data,” Wartchow said.
Hannah Bennet said she has always been suspicious of how that works.
“I feel like whatever I say into my phone, it pops up as an ad the next day,” Bennet said.
So what should you do if you see a green or orange dot on your iPhone, but you’re not using any apps to cause it?
“I would turn your phone off right away,” Wartchow said. “When you turn it back on and that is off, I would start taking a look at the usage statistics and usage information.”
The same thing can happen for Android users, but the operating system does not have any indicators on its screen to alert users.
Additionally, Google Home and Amazon Alexa devices can make life easier, but also listen in when you don’t want them to.
“Having any type of technology now a days is a risk,” Bennent said.
While you might feel at risk, there are ways you can minimize the chance of an unwanted visitor listening or watching you through your smart devices.
Below are several step-by-step tutorials on how you can minimize the risk on your specific devices.
Apple iPhone/iPod/iPad
- Open on the “Settings” app
- Scroll down and click on “Privacy”
- Click on “Microphone”
- Apps that have the green slider “On” have access to your phone’s microphone. Slide
them to “Off” to disable their permission. - Go back to “Privacy”
- Click on “Camera”
- Apps that have the green slider “On” have access to your phone’s camera. Slide them
to “Off” to disable their permission. - Go back to “Settings”
- Click on “Siri & Search”
- On “Listen for ‘Hey Siri’”, slide the green slider to “Off”
WATCH STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL:
Android Phones
- Open the “Settings” app
- Click on “Google”
- Scroll to the “Services” section and click on “Account Services”
- Click “Search, Assistant & Voice”
- Click “Voice”
- Find the “Hey Google” section, click on “Voice Match”
- Turn off “Hey Google” by sliding the switch to the left
- In the same menu, click “Driving Settings”
- Turn off “While Driving” by sliding the switch to the left
WATCH STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL:
Google Home
- Open the “Google Home” app
- Click your Profile Picture in the top right corner
- Click “Assistant Settings”
- Scroll down to find “Your Data In The Assistant,” click on it
- Scroll down to “Audio Recordings”
- Click on “On”
- Scroll down to “Include Audio Recordings”
- Uncheck the box next to “On”
- An information prompt will appear, read the warning before clicking “Stop Saving”
WATCH STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL:
Amazon Alexa
- Open the “Amazon Alexa” app
- Click “More” in the bottom right corner
- Click “Settings”
- Then click “Alexa Privacy”
- Click “Manage Your Alexa Data”
- Click “Choose How Long To Save Recordings”
- Then click “Don’t Save Any Recordings”
- An Information prompt will appear, read the warning before clicking “Confirm”
- On the same menu, scroll down to “Help Improve Alexa”
- On “Use of Voice Recordings,” slide the switch to “Off”
- Lastly, on “Use Message To Improve Transcriptions,” slide the switch to “Off”
WATCH STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL:
NOTE: Comment for this publication was requested from Apple, Google, LG, Samsung and Amazon. None of the companies responded.
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