Android: If you were using the keyboard app developed by Ai.Type, your personal information may have been leaked online as security researchers discovered that the company was collecting user data and storing it in a flawed MongoDB database.
Specifically, sensitive data belonging to approximately 31 million users were included in the database, and entries were found that prove the keyboard app recorded almost any keystroke, regardless of whether it was just text or passwords.
While Ai.Type denies these allegations, stating that all data is encrypted, security researchers claim that the database includes full names of users, email addresses, location, device, model and IMEI as well as Android versions. Personal information was also collected such as birth dates, gender, profile photos, contacts and even passwords.
6,435,813 entries were found with information collected from address books, including names and phone numbers. It is estimated that the keyboard app stores over 373 million files on the parent company's servers.
In most cases third‑party keyboard apps require full access to typed data and although Android warns about security risk, users do not believe that their information will be collected and leaked.
While some companies sell information collected from users, it is not clear whether Ai.Type follows the same practice. However, the company offers a paid version of the keyboard app for those who do not want their data to be uploaded to its servers.
The Ai.Type keyboard app is also available on iPhone , also requiring full access, but it's not yet clear whether the data collection affected Apple users or just Android users.
