Emily Sortor  |  April 5, 2020

Category: Data Breach

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Whisper app data leak affects users.

Researchers have revealed that information shared with the app Whisper may not be as secret as advertised. Reportedly, information including location, age, race, and sexual orientation may have been stored about those who shared posts or “whispers” with the social media platform, and may be accessible to the public.

The research into the Whisper app data leak was conducted by Twelve Security, led by cybersecurity consultants Matthew Porter and Dan Ehrlich. The information was then shared with the Washington Post, and the news source then reached out to the company. The information about the users has since been removed by Whisper, but has nonetheless caused concern. In addition to contacting the Washington Post, the researchers also contacted law enforcement about their findings.

According to research conducted by Twelve Security, records from users and their posts had been stored on a database that was not protected by a password. Reportedly, this database was available to the public, despite Whisper’s advertisement as “the safest place on the internet.” 

Of the Whisper app data leak, Twelve Security researchers say that they could access user information dating back as early as the app’s release in 2012, which total around 900 million user records. The information included in the database included personal identifiers, as well as information about secrets shared. Reportedly, much of this information had to do with sexual orientation or preferences. 

Perhaps most concerning, the database did also include information related to children who had posted on the app. Ehrlich argued that the database “has very much violated the societal and ethical norms we have around the protection of children online.” Shining a light on the number of children whose information was allegedly exposed, the Washington Post notes that the database returned 1.3 million results when researchers searched for users whose age was listed as 15. 

Are There Laws in Place to Protect Children Online?

The Federal Trade Commission explains that federal law protects children’s information privacy in a number of ways, including through the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, which helps parents control what information that sites collect from their children.

Whisper app data leak.The researchers then stressed that the database was not only available to the public, but could be downloaded en masse. Third parties could then reportedly use this information in combination with other information about users, to gain a fuller and more damaging picture of the users and their preferences.

According to the researchers, this information can be used by thieves for identity theft, fraud, or blackmail, among other nefarious purposes. Additionally, the possibility for damage has increased because the information has reportedly been out in the open for years already.

Whisper’s parent company Media Lab has taken issue with the information presented by Twelve Security regarding the Whisper app data leak, arguing that the information available to the public was only made public based on a choice that users had in their app settings, to share their information or not. Additionally, the company had claimed that the information was meant to be public within the Whisper app, but was “not designed to be queried directly.”

According to the Twelve Security researchers and the Washington Post, Whisper had begun to categorize posts and data to identify certain types of users. One such categorization was the company’s attempt to identify those users who had a probability of being a predator, or those who had been banned from the site. However,  Media Lab’s Vice President of Content and Safety, Lauren Jamar, reported that this project was abandoned because it had not been successful.

This was one of the ways in which the company reportedly collected data on crimes and misdemeanors, but according to the Washington Post, the “predator_probability” determination was based on vague factors. 

According to the researchers, this information collection and tracking of possibly harmful users is in contrast to Whisper’s claims that the company “does not follow or track users.” However, even after The Guardian had interrogated Whisper’s privacy practices, the app still collected user information, states The Washington Post.

Join a Free Whisper App Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you posted confessions on the Whisper app, you may qualify to join this Whisper app data leak class action lawsuit investigation. 

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.

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