It has been alleged that WhatsApp gets access to the microphone of our devices even when the app is not being used. Obviously, it is a concern. Elon Musk tweeting about it and raising an alarm by saying that WhatsApp can't be trusted has become a major topic of interest. Even a Union Minister from India termed it an unacceptable breach and violation of Privacy.
As per WA, though, the concern is unfounded. "Over the last 24 hours, we have been in touch with a Twitter engineer who posted an issue with his Pixel phone and WhatsApp. We believe this is a bug on Android that mis-attributes information in their Privacy Dashboard and have asked Google to investigate and remediate," the company wrote.
"Users have full control over their mic settings. Once granted permission, WhatsApp only accesses the mic when a user is making a call or recording a voice note or video - and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption so WhatsApp cannot hear them," the company further said.
https://twitter.com/foaddabiri/status/1654856617723301888
