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SwiftKey Bug Leaked Email Addresses, Phone Numbers To Strangers (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader writes: After many users reported receiving predictions meant for other users, such as email addresses and phone numbers, SwiftKey has suspended part of its service. The service responsible for the bug was SwiftKey's cloud sync service. The Verge reports that one user, an English speaker, was getting someone else's German suggestions, while someone received NSFW porn search suggestions. The Telegraph also reports, "One SwiftKey user, who works in the legal profession and ask to remain anonymous, found out their details had been compromised when a stranger emailed them to say that a brand new phone had suggested their email address when logging into an account online. 'A few days ago, I received an email from a complete stranger asking if I had recently purchased and returned a particular model of mobile phone, adding that not one but two of my email addresses (one personal and one work address) were saved on the phone she had just bought as brand-new,' said the user." SwiftKey released an official statement today about the issue but said that it "did not pose a security issue."
really now...
Ugh, get your head out of your "supreme leader's" ass.
T9 predictive user input worked on 12 key keyboards more than 15 years ago and all locally. Swift key and others of their ilk need their inventors and executives poked with a wooden stick through the heart. A keyboard has no job sending keystrokes on the Internet!
How is other people getting things I've typed not a security risk?
"Store all your personal data on other peoples' computers," they said. What could possibly go wrong?
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
someone received NSFW porn search suggestions.
Does that imply that there are "SFW" porn search suggestions??
Does the predictive capability really need a cloud connection? I stopped using SwiftKey as soon as I learnt it needed the Internet to function and thus the risk of sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, leaking. Beyond the privacy concern, the fact I can't use while without a data connection did not reassure.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
I understand your concern, but SwiftKey does not send individual keystrokes over the wire, and prediction is handled on the device. It does send any new words you type so that it can predict the same words on all your devices. It goes way beyond T9 prediction and considers the context from preceding words. When I'm replying with a canned response, I can often type the first word and then simply hit the spacebar to insert each successive word.
SwiftKey builds your personal vocabulary by combining the dictionaries you choose at setup with the words you type in context. You can also have it (optionally) learn from existing emails, IMs, Facebook posts, etc. If you don't want the cloud features, turn them off. If you don't want it to scan your existing messages, click "Skip" when asked.
This is definitely a bug and a problem, but the feature itself is entirely optional and clearly presented. SwiftKey is definitely one of my favorite apps, and it has a crap ton of themes.
Freedom to fear. Freedom from thought. Freedom to kill.
I guess the War on Terror really is about freedom!
Took Microsoft half a year to start fucking up this application?
You're getting slow M$.
It preyed upon your laziness. "Convenience" it called out to your dumb ass.
where "can" means "can elect the worse possible person to the highest public office of the USA"
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
After the singularity, there will be only one password database, shared by all lifeforms in the universe.
And that will be that!
Angry wife: Why are you getting porno suggestions?
Sheepish husband: I swear, it is a bug in their system!
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
This link goes to a picture of Donald Trump's psyche.