SwiftKey leaks user data

SwiftKey is a popular virtual keyboard for Android and iOS. Acquired by Microsoft for $250 million, the service has text prediction feature, synchronization and more.

The privacy leak was first realized when multiple SwiftKey users have found others' phone numbers and email addresses in their suggestions list. A Reddit user reported that he saw a German-language suggestions as well as others' email addresses on a freshly rooted Samsung Galaxy S6 with the UK English pack installed. In another case, someone received NSFW porn search suggestions.

SwiftKey leaks user data

SwiftKey believes this error is due to a bug in the keyboard's synchronization feature.

This feature is meant to keep user data updated between their devices. In response to this issue, SwiftKey deactivated the feature while it digs into the problem.

"This week, a few of our customers noticed unexpected predictions where unfamiliar terms, and in some rare cases emails, appeared when using their mobile phone. We are working quickly to resolve this inconvenience.

While this did not pose a security issue for our customers, we have turned off the cloud sync service and are updating our applications to remove email address predictions. During this time, it will not be possible to back up your SwiftKey language model.

The vast majority of SwiftKey users are not affected by this issue. If you have any reason to believe you are seeing unfamiliar predictions, please contact [email protected]."