Oh dear. SwiftKey – the Android and iOS virtual keyboard bought by Microsoft earlier this year for a cool $250 million – has suspended a key component of the app after it was found to be leaking other users’ private data.
According to The Telegraph, multiple SwiftKey users have found other people’s phone numbers and email addresses in their suggestions. One Reddit user reported seeing German-language suggestions on a freshly-rooted Samsung Galaxy S6 with the UK English pack installed, as well as someone else’s email address.
SwiftKey believes this error is due to a bug in the keyboard’s synchronization feature, which used to keep user data updated between disparate devices. In response, it has deactivated this feature while it remedies the problem.
This is proving to be a serious headache for SwiftKey users, with many taking to Twitter to complain.
https://twitter.com/coolstarorg/status/758465196604002304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
We’ve reached out to SwiftKey for comment, and to see when Sync will be restored. We’ll update this post if we hear back.
Read More at:
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2016/07/29/swiftkey-sharing-users-phone-numbers-email-addresses-strangers/
