As WhatsApp faces intense scrutiny over its upcoming data
and privacy policy in India and elsewhere, another user data violation has been
reported, this time on the WhatsApp on Desktop (Web) application, allegedly
exposing personal mobile numbers via indexing on Google Search.
Although WhatsApp is primarily a mobile app,
currently being used by over 400 million users in India, some working
professionals also use the instant chat app on their desktops and PCs via the
Web-version.
Independent cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar
Rajaharia on Friday shared some screenshots with IANS showing indexing of
personal mobile numbers of WhatsApp users via Web version on Google Search.
"The leak is happening via WhatsApp on Web. If
someone is using WhatsApp on a laptop or on an office PC, the mobile numbers are
being indexed on Google Search. These are mobile numbers of individual users, not business numbers," Rajaharia told IANS.
Earlier this week, concerned at private
group chat links being available on Google Search, WhatsApp said that it had
asked Google not to index such chats and advised users not to share a group chat
links on publicly accessible websites.
Google had indexed invite links to private WhatsApp group
chats, meaning anyone can join various private chat groups with a simple
search. The indexed WhatsApp group chat links have now been removed from
Google.
"Despite WhatsApp advising users
and telling Google to remove the earlier exposed group chat links, the mobile
numbers via WhatsApp Web application are now being indexed on Google
Search," Rajaharia noted.
A WhatsApp spokesperson said in an earlier statement that
since March 2020, WhatsApp has included the "no index" tag on all
deep link pages which, according to Google, will exclude them from indexing.
"We have given our feedback to Google to not index
these chats. Links that users wish to share privately with people they know and
trust should not be posted on a publicly accessible website," the company
spokesperson said.
The issue was first cropped up in
February last year when app reverse-engineer Jane Wong found that Google has
around 470,000 results for a simple search of "chat.whatsapp.com",
part of the URL that makes up invites to WhatsApp groups.
According to Rajaharia, the latest leak
of personal mobile numbers via WhatsApp on Web has not been addressed so far by either Facebook-owned platform or Google.
The revelation comes at a time when WhatsApp is changing
its privacy policy and users will have to "agree and accept" if they
plan to keep using the app post-February 8.
On Friday, a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court
recused from hearing a petition against WhatsApp's upcoming data and
privacy policy, on the grounds that it violates the right to privacy of
citizens of India.
The plea will now be listed before another bench and
would come up for hearing on January 18. — IANS
Follow TECHNICALLUST for
the latest TECHNICALLUST and
REVIEWS also keep up with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, For
our latest videos.
0 Comments