Recently, Zoom has rolled out an update for its Mac app to fix a bug that could potentially render privacy problems for users. A company spokesperson has replied to a post on the Zoom community forums made by a user who noticed that a bug was keeping their mics on after calls. Moreover, upon accessing Control Center, they found that Zoom was accessing their microphone.
Zoom’s Mac App Bug Was Keeping Mics on After Calls
The original poster wasn’t the only one who aired their complaint on the forum, and a lot of commenters stated they had detected the same thing with mics on after calls. In the company’s response, the representative said Zoom for Mac version 5.9.3 solves an issue wherein “the orange indicator light [could] continue to appear after having left a meeting, call or webinar.” The rep is recommending users update their app to patch the bug and switch on automatic updates to get future releases as soon as they’re out.
Zoom has had some severe privacy problems in the past, including telling users that their meetings were protected with end-to-end encryption since 2016. In truth, it only began rolling out the feature in 2020, and the company had to settle with the FTC over its privacy practices. In 2021, it also agreed to pay $85 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the video chat giant of violating privacy and allowing trolls to drop into people’s chats in a practice called “zoombombing.”
Read more: Zoom’s Zero Click Vulnerability Can Expose Personal User Data
Zoom is Recommending its Clients to Update to the Latest Version
“The Zoom client for macOS 5.9.3, released on January 25, 2022, fixed a bug involving the failure to properly terminate the microphone use post-meeting,” Zoom spokesperson Matt Nagel said in an emailed statement about Zoom keeping mics on after calls. He added, “Zoom has determined that this bug did not result in audio data being transmitted back to Zoom’s platform. As always, we recommend users make sure their Zoom client is updated to the latest version.”
Source: Engadget
