Privacy

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Signal leaked random contacts to me! (feddit.de)

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

97 comments fedilink hide all child comments

When I press on some message to forward it, it shows me Random usernames of contacts I don't know. And it even shows some Mobile Numbers I don't know. For example, one number starts with +964 that's Iraq. I'm from Europe tho. These contacts and numbers are from all over the place.

Edit: This only happens on Signal Desktop. If I try to forward a message on Android it only shows my Contacts. And none of these unkown ones.

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[–] [email protected] 46 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Has anyone else been able to reproduce this? I just tried and was not able to.

OP, is it possible these people were in group chats you were part of?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I still don't see any bug report anyone can follow up on.... I cannot trust OP's experience until that's linked here.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

The bug report forum from Signal doesn't give you any link.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

No, they are not. I'm in two groups. None of them are in the groups. I only use Signal for Real life friends from my Country. I never joined any random group. These people are from all over the world.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Interesting. Are there any other accounts on your phone that provide contacts? Maybe social media or other chat platforms? On Android you can see accounts in Settings > Passwords & Accounts (or somewhere similar; it varies a little between brands). You can also check inside your Contacts app by expanding the sidebar (again, varies by brand).

Just a thought. I don't have any other contact providers on my phone so I can't test it myself.

Please keep us posted if you get any official response or learn anything new!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

Nope. And I maybe had to add (did it now) that this only appears to be a problem with Signal Desktop. My signal app on android doesn't even show other contacts from strangers. I will update this if I get a response, of course.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Group chats very likely. There are often sync issues from mobile, so these may just be old spam or group chat numbers.