These 54 iOS apps grab your sensitive data from the clipboard

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    In March, researchers uncovered a troubling privacy grab by more than four dozen iOS apps including TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media and video-sharing phenomenon that has taken the Internet by storm. Security researcher Tommy Mysk told Ars Technica in an interview that an additional 53 apps identified in March are still indiscriminately capturing universal clipboard data when they open, potentially sharing sensitive data with other nearby devices using the same Apple ID.

    Though, TikTok told Telegraph that the app is not collecting data from the clipboard. Instead, the app has a custom system to identify repetitive spam behavior. The company alleges this feature is triggering the new iOS 14 privacy banner, and for that reason, TikTok will no longer automatically access user clipboards with a future update to the app.
For TikTok, this was triggered by a feature designed to identify repetitive, spammy behavior. We have already submitted an updated version of the app to the App Store removing the anti-spam feature to eliminate any potential confusion. TikTok is committed to protecting users’ privacy and being transparent about how our app works.
     In all, the researchers found the following iOS apps were reading users’ clipboard data every time the app was opened with no clear reason for doing so:

    News
  • ABC News
  • Al Jazeera English
  • CBC News
  • CBS News 
  • Fox News
  • News Break
  • New York Times
  • NPR
  • ntv Nachrichten
  • Reuters
  • Russia Today
  • Stern Nachrichten
  • The Economist
  • The Huffington Post
  • The Wall Street Journal
    Games
  • 8 Ball Pool™
  • AMAZE!!!
  • 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 Networking
  • TikTok
  • ToTalk
  • Tok
  • Truecaller
  • Viber
  • Weibo
  • Zoosk
    Other
  • 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
    However, the concern isn’t just that this handful of apps are misusing the keyboard. There’s a chance that many other apps are exhibiting similar behavior. Though, the iOS 14 beta has a feature where your iPhone alerts you when a third-party app accesses your iPhone's clipboard. But there is no such thing for Android. It’s also unclear how these apps behave in Android. Regardless of your device choice, then, it’s a good idea to avoid copying sensitive data unless necessary and to clear out the clipboard (such as by copying a harmless piece of text) when you do copy valuable info.

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