These iPhone and iPad apps track clipboard data

Most users copy data to clipboard . This is a practice that has been used for years. Most of the information stored may not be very important. However, many times we copy sensitive information, such as passwords, phone numbers or financial information. As for iOS and iPadOS, Apple has given apps unrestricted access to the system (Pasteboard for iPhone and iPad). According to a study conducted by experts Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk, many popular apps secretly read the contents of the pasteboard.

clipboard

This behavior is of course suspicious. In fact, some of these apps, such as some games, do not provide any text-related UI. However, they still have access to the pasteboard content.

Additionally, apps that access the iOS or iPadOS pasteboard can read anything copied to a Macif the user has enabled Universal Clipboard.

The most worrying thing is that the apps can read any type of datathat has been copied to the pasteboard. However, they seem to be more concerned with information that is in text format rather than photos, documents, etc.

The researchers said they don't know exactly what the apps do with the pasteboard content. All they know is that the apps have access to the data.

iPhone and iPad apps that track data include: apps , games, social media apps and more. Specifically:

News

• ABC News
• Al Jazeera English
• CBC News
• CNBC
• Fox News
• News Break
• New York Times
• NPR
• ntv news
• Reuters
• Russia Today
• Star News
• The Economist
• The Huffington Post
• The Wall Street Journal
• Vice News

Games

• 8 Ball Pool™
• Bejeweled
• Block Puzzle
• Classic Bejeweled
• Classic Bejeweled HD
• FlipTheGun
• Fruit Ninja
• Golfmasters
• Letter Soup
• Love Nikki
• My Emma
• Plants vs. Zombies™ Heroes
• Pooking – Billiards City
• PUBG Mobile
• Tomb of the Mask
• Tomb of the Mask: Color
• Total Party Kill
• Watermarbling

Social media apps

• TikTok
• ToTalk
• Tok
• Truecaller
• Viber
• Weibo
• Zoosk

But

• 10% Happier: Meditation
• 5-0 Radio Police Scanner
• Accuweather
• AliExpress Shopping App
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• Dazn
• Hotels.com
• Hotel Tonight
• Overstock
• Pigment – ​​Adult Coloring Book
• Recolor Coloring Book to Color
• Sky Ticket
• The Weather Network

Mysk and the rest of the team informed Apple about this issue earlier this year, but the company deemed it to be harmless.