Title: Privacy Concerns Arise as Sunbird’s Nothing Chats App Exposes User Data in Plain Text
Sunbird, a company that made headlines for promising iMessage support on Android, has recently launched the Nothing Chats app. However, it is now facing significant criticism as recent findings suggest that user data can be accessed in plain text, raising serious privacy concerns.
Nothing Chats claims to provide end-to-end encryption for user messages. Unfortunately, a user on Twitter/X discovered that media attachments, including user images, are being transmitted to Sentry with visible links in plain text. Furthermore, all data is sent and stored through Firebase without encryption.
Independent researchers have verified these findings, noting that they could successfully access Nothing Chat’s Firebase database and view messages and files from other users in plain text. Shockingly, the database currently houses more than 630,000 media files, including images, videos, PDFs, audio, and vCards.
Compounding these concerns is the fact that Sunbird, the company behind Nothing Chats, has access to every message sent and received through the app. The messages are logged as errors, raising additional concerns about the potential misuse of private user data.
Further analysis conducted by Texts.com has shed light on the severity of the issue. They have provided detailed information on the process and even demonstrated how easily the information can be downloaded.
While the issue was reported to Nothing, it remains unclear how it will impact Sunbird and its app, as both suffer from the same vulnerabilities. In response to the discovery, Nothing has promptly pulled Nothing Chats from the Play Store and temporarily delayed the app’s launch to address the reported bugs.
The privacy implications associated with the app are deeply concerning, as all user data, including private images and messages, is readily accessible. The incident raises questions about Nothing’s lack of due diligence in ensuring the privacy and security of the app.
Given the severity of the privacy concerns, users are strongly advised against downloading either Nothing Chats or Sunbird. Protecting personal data should always be a top priority, and in this case, the risks are simply too great.
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