FBI can turn on Android phone’s mic remotely

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The FBI develops some hacking tools internally and purchases others from the private sector. With such technology, the bureau can remotely activate the microphones in phones running Google Inc.’s Android software to record conversations, one former U.S. official said. It can do the same to microphones in laptops without the user knowing, the person said. Google declined to comment.

Thanks Google.



14 thoughts on “FBI can turn on Android phone’s mic remotely”

  1. They don’t need to with the Moto X. That’s advertised as ‘always listening’. And we already know that all the data that goes through ISP and teleco servers is being siphoned off by the NSA.

  6. I did not see anywhere in the article where it said that it was US law that tech companies were required to build in backdoors for the FBI to tap into a device.

    It very much sounds as though the FBI is taking advantage of security holes in operating systems in order to execute this new type of surveillance.

  8. “Google declined to comment.”

    I wonder whether that’s because they’re embarrassed, or they’re lawfully prohibited from doing so. :/

  9. And people say the show Person of Interest and movies like Dark Knight are just fiction.

    curious both came from Warner Bros studios. Makes you wonder if someone is feeding someone and which way it is flowing

  10. I highly doubt that there is a law that says Apple has to put the code that allows this kind of thing into their systems.

    perhaps what you are thinking of is the whole thing about turning over user data if given a warrant for it, provided Apple doesn’t manage to challenge the warrant and get it invalidated.

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