Apple's iPhone 4 includes a front-facing camera for video conferencing. A few customers claim the camera is taking random photos when it's supposed to be inactive. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

A small number of iPhone 4 customers claim their phones’ front-facing cameras are snapping photos of them without their knowledge.

These inadvertently snapped photos later appear on the iPhone screen when they try to initiate a FaceTime video-conferencing call, about a dozen customers said in Apple’s support forums. For instance, one person said that FaceTime showed a picture of her in her office, even though she’d never used FaceTime at work.

The bug freezes the video call, requiring customers to retry until FaceTime properly loads.

One iPhone owner on Wednesday uploaded a video (below) demonstrating the bug. In the video, the iPhone 4 shows a still shot of the customer after he initiates a FaceTime call.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Wired.com staff was not able to replicate the glitch after several attempts on both iOS 4.3 and iOS 4.3.1, the versions of the operating system that reportedly suffer from the problem.

The glitch appears to affect a diminutive number of users, but it’s worth noting that Apple’s popular iPhone has fallen victim to several embarrassing security flaws in the past. In two instances, the iPhone’s security passcode was easily bypassed with a simple button sequence. Security researchers also discovered a memory-corruption bug that would allow a hacker to crash an iPhone with a text message and take control of it.

“Sounds like Apple has a potentially serious privacy leak,” said Jonathan Zdziarski, an iPhone-security researcher, regarding customers’ reports of the front-facing camera bug. “I guess the moral of the story is don’t let your iPhone see you naked.”

Wired.com is continuing to look into the issue. If you’re experiencing similar problems, or if you’ve found a solution, please post in the comments section.

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