WhatsApp Phone Numbers Leak
| WhatsApp Phone Numbers Leak | |
|---|---|
| Short Title | WhatsApp Phone Numbers From Private Profiles Available Publicly via Google Search |
| Location | Global |
| Date | June 2020 |
| Solove Harm | Insecurity, Increased Accessibility |
| Information | Contact, Physical Characteristics |
| Threat Actors | WhatsApp Inc. (Facebook Inc.), Facebook, Google |
| Individuals | |
| Affected | WhatsApp users |
| High Risk Groups | |
| Tangible Harms | |
Over 300,000 WhatsApp phone numbers were leaked and appeared to be available publicly through Google search.
Description
In June 2020 phone numbers from private profiles of Facebook-owned WhatsApp were found to be leaked.
By searching with an alternate shortened URL for the service, one could get a list of over 300,000 phone numbers currently in use on the platform. Increased Accessibility
Generally, the internal phone numbers tied to users have some level of privacy protection; they are not supposed to be visible to those who are not logged into the platform and also not shared with other platform users unless one approves them as a contact. Therefore the leak can be interpreted as a Breach of Confidentiality. This data breachInsecurity has given anyone access to WhatsApp phone numbers via Google search.
Facebook rejected a bug bounty report on this issue and downplayed it, claiming that the only numbers available are those that the owners have opted to make public.