A copy-paste issue on iPhones is still running wild on more than 50 apps, including TikTok, numerous news apps, and games like Bejeweled.
The clipboard privacy breach was first reported back in March and exposed that some apps could see iPhone users’ clipboard contents, whether it be a credit card number, password, or random link. The apps were accessing the copied text or media every time users opened them without users knowing that was happening.
At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2020, the newest iPhone operating system, iOS 14, was introduced and with it a new way to notify users about apps looking at your iPhone data. Other types of app data access will be self-reported in what Apple is calling privacy “nutrition labels.”
Beta users immediately noticed that the clipboard spying is still happening on all those apps, thanks to a new privacy feature that lets users see it. Here’s a video showing how the new iOS alerts users to what’s happening behind the scenes:
The iOS 14 public beta is coming in July and the official release will be here in the fall. Soon we’ll see how much apps are snooping on our clipboards. Mashable reached out to Apple for more information on why this still appears to be happening and we’ll update this story if/when we hear back.
UPDATE: June 28, 2020, 9:21 p.m. UTC One of the researchers who discovered the privacy vulnerability has been in touch with Apple about the issue. He said that had Apple contacted him and his partner to let the team know that their discovery led to the clipboard notification feature in the upcoming iOS.
He said they had reached out to Apple in January before publishing a post about the privacy breach in March.
