PogoWasRight.org

Menu
  • About
  • Privacy
Menu

Shazam Keeps Your Mac’s Microphone Always On, Even When You Turn It Off (UPDATED)

Posted on November 15, 2016 by pogowasright.org

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai reports:

What’s that song? On your cellphone, the popular app Shazam is able to answer that question by listening for just a few seconds, as if it were magic. On Apple’s computers, Shazam never turns the microphone off, even if you tell it to.

When a user of Shazam’s Mac app turns the app “OFF,” the app actually keeps the microphone on in the background. For the security researcher who discovered that the mic is always on, it’s a bug that users should know about. For Shazam, it’s just a feature that makes the app work better.

Read more on Motherboard.

h/t, Joe Cadillic

UPDATE: Shazam, responding to the publicity and concerns, is changing Shazam:

Even though we don’t recognize a meaningful risk, we want to make this configuration change to show that we care, and we pay attention, and we want them to feel good about using Shazam on their Mac.

Category: BusinessSurveillance

Post navigation

← The FBI just got its hands on data that Twitter wouldn’t give the CIA
Yik Yak: “We messed up. Here’s why we’re making handles optional again” →

Now more than ever

Search

Contact Me

Email: info@pogowasright.org

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Categories

Recent Posts

  • FTC dismisses privacy concerns in Google breakup
  • ARC sells airline ticket records to ICE and others
  • Clothing Retailer, Todd Snyder, Inc., Settles CPPA Allegations Regarding California Consumer Privacy Act Violations
  • US Customs and Border Protection Plans to Photograph Everyone Exiting the US by Car
  • Google agrees to pay Texas $1.4 billion data privacy settlement
  • The App Store Freedom Act Compromises User Privacy To Punish Big Tech
  • Florida bill requiring encryption backdoors for social media accounts has failed

RSS Recent Posts on DataBreaches.net

  • International cybercrime tackled: Amsterdam police and FBI dismantle proxy service Anyproxy
  • Moldovan Police Arrest Suspect in €4.5M Ransomware Attack on Dutch Research Agency
  • N.W.T.’s medical record system under the microscope after 2 reported cases of snooping
  • Department of Justice says Berkeley Research Group data breach may have exposed information on diocesan sex abuse survivors
  • Masimo Manufacturing Facilities Hit by Cyberattack
©2025 PogoWasRight.org. All rights reserved.
Menu
  • About
  • Privacy