UK Edition
SwiftKey app leaked users' email addresses and phone numbers to strangers
A British keyboard app that uses artificial intelligence to predict the next word you want to write has suspended part of its service after users reported receiving predictions meant for other people, including email addresses and phone numbers.
After installing SwiftKey on a new device, one user was shocked when the app suggest she use a stranger's email address. Another reported getting predictions in a language they'd never spoken.
SwiftKey, which was created by three Cambridge graduates and bought by Microsoft for £174 million earlier this year, has temporarily disabled the ability to sync the app on new devices.
SwiftKey has a database of words and phrases commonly typed by each of its users, which it uses to make suggestions as they're typing. The app, which can read personal text such as emails, social media interactions and text messages, has access to sensitive information including regularly typed phone numbers, addresses, names and phrases.
One SwiftKey user, who works in the legal profession and asked to remain anonymous, found out their details had been compromised when a stranger emailed them to say that a brand new phone had suggested their email address when logging into an account online.
"A few days ago, I received an email from a complete stranger asking if I had recently purchased and returned a particular model of mobile phone, adding that not one but two of my email addresses (one personal and one work address) were saved on the phone she had just bought as brand-new," said the user.
The stranger with the new phone went through each letter of the alphabet and told the user the suggested words. They included names of the user's friends and addresses for private servers they connect to for work.
"It also suggested, when she typed a zero, the telephone number for someone I had phoned recently."
Separately, a Reddit user complained that after resetting their phone and reinstalling SwiftKey they were suggested German words, having never typed in German before, and a stranger's email address.
"It's bad enough to lose a trilingual dictionary built over almost four years. Now I'm also worrying about someone getting all my suggestions," said Reddit user JawaharlalNehru.
In a response to the post on Reddit, SwiftKey said: "Our team is looking into this as a matter of priority." The company disabled its synchronisation feature three days ago.
A spokesperson for SwiftKey said: "This week, a few of our customers noticed unexpected predictions where unfamiliar terms, and in some rare cases emails, appeared when using their mobile phone. We are working quickly to resolve this inconvenience.
"We have turned off the cloud sync service and are updating our applications to remove email address prediction. During this time, it will not be possible to back up your SwiftKey language model."
The company assured users that the app is "okay to use" in the meantime and that their personal data will not be lost.