Digital Quirks Like the Twinning App Almost Always Harm Your Privacy
It’s new year guys, but there is another 2018 data breach that we need to discuss. If you’ve spent any time on the Internet while on vacation, you’ve probably seen someone on Facebook or Twitter post photos from the Popsugar Twinning app , which uses facial recognition to tell you which celebrities you might be a bit like.
Guess what? Photo (or photos) submitted by people has been leaked. You can find them by searching Google images or, you know, download them right away.
The leak, discovered by TechCrunch , was due to poorly secured Amazon Web Services storage, which made user-submitted photo files publicly available if you knew where to look. According to the report, the leak was closed, so to speak, but the app has been there for a while sooooo … Hope everyone will enjoy the photos they sent!
As noted in many publications , this is the smallest leak of personal data. The only thing that was found was a file, the contents of which, in theory, will be published anyway. This is certainly no excuse – users expected their photos to be kept safe – but after surviving the Equifax hack in 2017 and the massive Facebook data breach reported in 2018, this leak is by comparison – relatively small potatoes.
On the other hand, the Popsugar leak should also serve as a reminder that there is always risk when you share information online, even with a brand you know, for fun and lighthearted purposes. Last spring, hacker Inti De Ceukelaire reported that a quiz app called NameTests had exposed the identity of 120 million Facebook users . A few months later Timehop application which offers re-publish old photos of your accounts in social networks, has flowed the personal data of 21 million users.
Even apps from trusted companies, such as Google ‘s Arts and Culture app and Microsoft’s “How old do you look” test, have raised privacy concerns among security-conscious people. Google and Microsoft specifically said they won’t use photos sent through these apps for other purposes, although that doesn’t stop people from worrying about how else their photos might be used. These fears are not unfounded: in 2017, digital security experts discovered that Meitu , a viral selfie photo filter , was recording personal data unrelated to the app.
Unfortunately, the only advice I can really give you is to avoid such disposable applications, because you can burn yourself. In this age of sudden and widespread data breaches, it feels like you’re being told not to go outside because you could be hit by a car crossing the street.
On the other hand, Popsugar says that I look like Guy Fier and I am damn angry. Never mind. Turn it all off.