A new privacy feature in Apple's iOS 14 has exposed several apps copying clipboard data. Now, it was discovered that the Reddit iOS app was also reading the content on the clipboards of users. According to Reddit, the company is rolling out a fix for a piece of code that caused this behavior in its iOS app.
Some users in the beta version of iOS 14 have reported that they are receiving alerts with every keystroke in the Reddit iOS application. The beta version of iOS 14 sends an alert to users if a specific application tries to read the information on the users’ clipboards.
When asked for a comment on this issue, a Reddit spokesman talked to TheVerge on the matter. In the email, he stated that the company has tracked this down to a code path in the post composer. The code path checks for URLs in the pasteboard of users, and then it recommends a post title. The post title is based on the text of the URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
He also said that the company does not store this information or send the pasteboard content. Reddit has removed this code and the company will roll out a fix on July 14 of this year. A Twitter user named Donald Morton posted a video in one of his tweets stating that Reddit is reading the clipboard data with every keystroke.
Around four months ago, iPhone developers raised concerns about this copying behavior. Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry, two iPhone developers noted that several applications were copying clipboard contents. The privacy feature in iOS 14 that is exposing this type of behavior in several apps is still in a limited beta for developers. In the past few weeks, the feature has revealed several apps engaging in clipboard-copying including TikTok and LinkedIn.
On 3rd July, LinkedIn stated that the company will stop this practice, and explained that LinkedIn’s iOS app was copying clipboard information to perform an ‘equality check’ between what a person types and what is in their clipboard. Erran Berger, an engineering VP at LinkedIn explained in a tweet that the company does not store or transmit data on a user’s clipboard.
In the past, TikTok has also faced criticism for privacy concerns on its application, and last week, it was called out for similar behavior. TikTok explained that it was part of an ‘anti-spam’ feature. The company is discontinuing this practice. It is expected that a public beta of iOS 14 will be released in the upcoming few weeks and it may expose more applications engaged in this practice.
Read next: Reddit Officially Banned Hate Speech And Removed Around 2K SubReddits
Some users in the beta version of iOS 14 have reported that they are receiving alerts with every keystroke in the Reddit iOS application. The beta version of iOS 14 sends an alert to users if a specific application tries to read the information on the users’ clipboards.
When asked for a comment on this issue, a Reddit spokesman talked to TheVerge on the matter. In the email, he stated that the company has tracked this down to a code path in the post composer. The code path checks for URLs in the pasteboard of users, and then it recommends a post title. The post title is based on the text of the URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
He also said that the company does not store this information or send the pasteboard content. Reddit has removed this code and the company will roll out a fix on July 14 of this year. A Twitter user named Donald Morton posted a video in one of his tweets stating that Reddit is reading the clipboard data with every keystroke.
UPDATE: Seems like Reddit is capturing the clipboard on each keystroke as well 😕— Don 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 urspace.io (@DonCubed) July 2, 2020
Seeing the notification come up just as much. pic.twitter.com/nzbElmRG2a
Around four months ago, iPhone developers raised concerns about this copying behavior. Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry, two iPhone developers noted that several applications were copying clipboard contents. The privacy feature in iOS 14 that is exposing this type of behavior in several apps is still in a limited beta for developers. In the past few weeks, the feature has revealed several apps engaging in clipboard-copying including TikTok and LinkedIn.
On 3rd July, LinkedIn stated that the company will stop this practice, and explained that LinkedIn’s iOS app was copying clipboard information to perform an ‘equality check’ between what a person types and what is in their clipboard. Erran Berger, an engineering VP at LinkedIn explained in a tweet that the company does not store or transmit data on a user’s clipboard.
In the past, TikTok has also faced criticism for privacy concerns on its application, and last week, it was called out for similar behavior. TikTok explained that it was part of an ‘anti-spam’ feature. The company is discontinuing this practice. It is expected that a public beta of iOS 14 will be released in the upcoming few weeks and it may expose more applications engaged in this practice.
Read next: Reddit Officially Banned Hate Speech And Removed Around 2K SubReddits
