The company "WhatsApp" has announced that it has fixed a problem that was showing users ’phone numbers in Google search results, after a researcher revealed a feature in the" WhatsApp "application that puts users' mobile phone numbers.
A report by Techcrunch, a tech specialist, says security researcher Athol Jayaram found that the phone numbers of WhatsApp users who used the Click to Chat feature appear in the search, by allowing a search Google indexed it to find anyone. The situation has been described as a security error that jeopardizes user privacy, as it can lead to abuse and fraud.
The "click to chat" feature allows users to create links or QR codes that others can use to access their WhatsApp accounts and start a conversation instantly, without the need to know the phone number or include it in the contact list. It is a very convenient feature, especially for anyone who uses the app for commercial communication, but it makes your phone number appear in Google search results.
A spokesman for the company, "WhatsApp" in a statement, said that this feature is designed to help users, especially small and micro companies around the world to communicate with their customers and they want the public to access their phone numbers.
"We appreciate the report of this researcher and the time it took to share it with us, but he was not eligible for a reward because it only contains a search engine index for addresses that WhatsApp users choose to publish to the public," he said.
The spokesman added that all WhatsApp users - including companies - can block spam with the click of a button.
How does this error threaten user privacy?
Jayaram says up to 300,000 phone numbers have appeared in Google's search results, adding about the seriousness of this because "because of leaking individual phone numbers, an attacker can send messages to these people easily, and sell their phone numbers to marketers, spammers, and scammers."
Given that the "WhatsApp" application identifies users by phone number - not by names or by email - Google's search results showed only phone numbers, not users' identities.
However, Jayyaram said, "He was also able to see the profile pictures of WhatsApp users with their phone numbers, by clicking on the link addresses of the phone number in Google search only, so the hacker could do a reverse search for the user's profile picture in the hope of collecting Plenty of sufficient data to establish his identity. "
Therefore, security researchers described that this is a data leak and puts a lot of users at risk, while "Facebook", "WhatsApp" and "Google" stated that this is expected behavior, as the situation does not differ from any case in which a site allows the inclusion of addresses in general .
It does not matter if this is part of the feature or an unexpected side effect, the problem is that many WhatsApp users were unaware that their use of this feature will add their phone numbers to Google's search results, as many people try to keep numbers Their personal phones are hidden from the Internet to avoid potential security risks.
How to protect your WhatsApp number?
Currently, do not use the "click to chat" feature if you do not wish your number to appear in Google search results.
And if you are already using the feature, delete "click to chat" links from publicly available websites via the same feature that allows you to cancel the links that you have created.
Alternatively, you can use a service such as Google Voice with WhatsApp, if you wish to continue to use this feature without the risk of showing your personal phone number in search results.
TechCrunch said that Gayaram is not the first to report this problem, as WaBetaInfo reported this last February.