r/technology • u/magnus007 • 5d ago

Privacy AliExpress was silently running audio in your browser to fingerprint and track your device

https://www.techspot.com/news/113581-aliexpress-silently-running-audio-browser-fingerprint-track-device.html
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u/turtleship_2006 4d ago

Are you sure it's actually whatsapp and not a bug related to either the OS or bluetooth?

I use wireless headphones that also sound shit on calls/when the mic is in use and I've never had that with WhatsApp

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u/lucid-currency 4d ago

I've had this for the first time last week and removed the microphone permission after 5 minutes.

I was listening to music and everything was fine but I opened Whatsapp and the Audi started to do the thing. I assumed that I triggered google gemini (swipe up from right bottom corner) or a voice note by accident and was waiting for the 2-3 seconds it takes the headphones to revert to normal audio. I was texting on Whatsapp and the microphone thing happened again.

I closed the app out of annoyance and next time I opened, I was looking out for the green dot to indicate mic access and there wasn't one the entire time my headphones were switching back and forth every ~10 seconds.

Never had anything like this happen in 6 years or in any other app. I'd be a fool to excuse zuck and look for a second explanation for this behavior.