Most people assume that once their phone is locked, their photos are protected from anyone who picks up the device. However, a behavior discovered Jose Rodriguez shows that photos may be accessible during an incoming WhatsApp video call, even while the phone remains locked.
Before discussing the issue, it is important to understand a key prerequisite: WhatsApp must already have permission to access your photos and videos. This is a normal permission that many users grant because it is required to send images, videos, documents, and other media through the app. In other words, this behavior relies on access that the user has already allowed for legitimate messaging features.
In a real-world situation, someone with physical access to your phone such as friend or souse and knowledge of your WhatsApp number could potentially browse photos from your gallery in a matter of seconds. Think of a phone left unattended on a desk, table, or charger while still connected to the internet.
You can watch the demonstration with prevention tips in the video below.
How to Reduce the Risk
Fortunately, there is a simple mitigation you can apply today:
- Open Settings on your Android device.
- Go to Apps -> WhatsApp -> Permissions.
- Select Photos and Videos.
- Change the permission from full access to Limited access.
This restricts WhatsApp’s access to only the photos you explicitly choose, helping reduce the potential impact of this behavior.
Discovery
This issue was discovered by Jose Rodriguez and has already been reported to both Meta and Google. According to the Jose, it works on current Android versions.
