The Reddit iOS app has been found to be reading content from the user’s clipboard and as a result, Reddit is planning an update that will stop it from happening in the future. This is not an issue that's specific to Reddit, as plenty of other apps have been doing the same, and not just recently either.
In June, Apple unveiled its latest changes to its mobile operating system with iOS 14. One of them was a notification that alerted the user to when an app was attempting to do something, such as accessing the clipboard data. Once users started receiving the beta version of iOS 14 and the new features, it suddenly became clear that the TikTok iOS app was one of those reading clipboard data and most likely, without the user being aware of what was happening.
Over the weekend, reports came though that just like TikTok, the Reddit iOS app was doing exactly the same thing and capturing user clipboard content. Once the reports hit, many started asking why Reddit needed to do this and a response from the service came when a Reddit spokesperson confirmed to The Verge that the action was related to a post composer predictive feature. The spokesperson also added that the Reddit app does not store or send the data, suggesting it is only accessed on the device. Furthermore, the statement also made it clear that the offending code has already been removed from the iOS app, with the updated version due to become available to users on July 14.
Reddit & TikTok Are Not Alone
While Reddit and TikTok are two of the apps that have attracted attention due to the issue, they are not going to be the only apps that are doing this. In fact, a large number of apps are likely to be using the same post creator or pasting logic to check the clipboard for contents. While these companies will inevitably argue the feature was designed to make the experience more efficient and streamlined - by understanding what the user adds to the clipboard and making pasting suggestions - it does highlight how many instances there might be of data being recorded without a user being fully aware or consenting.
If it were not for the release of this new feature in iOS 14, then it seems highly likely that the behavior of these apps would have continued as before. To be clear, researchers and security experts had previously posted about this exact issue, with the likes of TikTok having been called out on it before and claiming to have stopped the practice. However, what changed with the introduction of the iPhone’s new security feature is the on the spot alerting of the app’s actions, and further proof of just how frequent the issue occurs, including when the app is not even in use. Not to mention, a real-time way for users to verify that when a service like Reddit says it has stopped the behavior through an app update, that it actually has.
Source: The Verge