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iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

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Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#41
post #23

Let's be real. Is anyone honestly surprised?

"Surprise" is not a good standard for concern.

Depends on what you're doing, driving or flying - you don't want surprises, they'd definitely be concerning. Privacy too in my opinion.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#42
Perhaps there should be a separate security level for “access whatever was just Copied in the last 4 seconds, if the only other action taken was to switch to the app requesting the clipboard”. Almost any app could clear that bar, since under those conditions it probably means “user grabbed something and wants to use it here”.

What is the use case for “read whatever was copied from anywhere for any reason at any time”? If there is one (e.g. full-fledged word processor maybe), that should still be a separate entitlement and require a higher bar, e.g. extensive app review.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#43

I use bitwarden as my password manager. Out of paranoia, I have been logging into Bitwarden only while an empty tab is open in case some random website is able to access my keystrokes while I use the plugin. I am a web developer, but I wasn't actually able to find information about whether this is a real risk or not last year when I began doing it. Can anybody clarify?

A Yubikey or similar device is a good way to mitigate the damage of having your password manager's password stolen.

https://bitwarden.com/help/article/setup-two-step-login-yubi...

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#44
post #29

It looks like there could be a reasonable explanation for this. There are apps that have different behavior whether or not there is text in the clipboard (e.g. enabling a "paste" button), and they're only checking that the text exists, not what it is. There's a new API that will let devs do that without triggering the user notification. If TikTok is actually constantly loading the clipboard, that's obviously terrible…

> There are apps that have different behavior whether or not there is text in the clipboard (e.g. enabling a "paste" button) People keep saying this but I've never seen one of these app-specific paste widgets. And even if I did, I wouldn't miss it in the slightest for the sake of not allowing every app to be reading my clipboard at all times . It's inexcusable to me that there isn't a permissions prompt for this. Two…

> I've never seen one of these app-specific paste widgets

IIRC having an address (or address-looking string) in your clipboard will cause it to show up as the first result on the search screen in Google Maps.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#45
post #29

It looks like there could be a reasonable explanation for this. There are apps that have different behavior whether or not there is text in the clipboard (e.g. enabling a "paste" button), and they're only checking that the text exists, not what it is. There's a new API that will let devs do that without triggering the user notification. If TikTok is actually constantly loading the clipboard, that's obviously terrible…

> There are apps that have different behavior whether or not there is text in the clipboard (e.g. enabling a "paste" button) People keep saying this but I've never seen one of these app-specific paste widgets. And even if I did, I wouldn't miss it in the slightest for the sake of not allowing every app to be reading my clipboard at all times . It's inexcusable to me that there isn't a permissions prompt for this. Two…

Is the “Link you copied” feature in new tab of iOS google chrome one of these?

As well as the “Address you copied” iOS Google Maps search field feature?

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#46

I know there are a few apps which will check the clipboard in order to provide functionality to the user. For example, some shipping apps will check the clipboard to see if the user has a copied tracking code and if so, ask the user if they want to track their copied code. Not sure if TikTok does something similar, but there are certainly innocent reasons for checking the clipboard.

Should we still be giving the benefit of the doubt to a Chinese-owned honeypot in 2020?

Absolutely not.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#47

It seems like a ton of apps are abusing this feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSWdtoUAjo I categorize this as another reason why "just trust us," just isn't acceptable enough when it comes to data privacy and ownership. Companies just cannot be trusted to treat their users' data with respect given the option of: profit or privacy. (sourced from reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/hejb9i/ios14_cat…

People love to hate on Apple but the fact is, they continue to release features to better showcase or restrict developers that abuse your privacy. The "walled garden" also ensures they apply a ton of checks to apps to better restrict abuses. Sometimes it's overly sensitive and bad things happen, but in general it's awesome that over time it becomes harder and harder to get away with apps blatantly spying on you.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#49

I use bitwarden as my password manager. Out of paranoia, I have been logging into Bitwarden only while an empty tab is open in case some random website is able to access my keystrokes while I use the plugin. I am a web developer, but I wasn't actually able to find information about whether this is a real risk or not last year when I began doing it. Can anybody clarify?

A Yubikey or similar device is a good way to mitigate the damage of having your password manager's password stolen. https://bitwarden.com/help/article/setup-two-step-login-yubi...

And for macOS users, Touch ID takes this further without any devices, dongles or passwords, which 1Password, Dashlane, etc already supports.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#50

I know there are a few apps which will check the clipboard in order to provide functionality to the user. For example, some shipping apps will check the clipboard to see if the user has a copied tracking code and if so, ask the user if they want to track their copied code. Not sure if TikTok does something similar, but there are certainly innocent reasons for checking the clipboard.

I know in some apps when logging in with a TOTP (2-factor auth code) it scans your clipboard for it.

I believe Slack was one of these. I thought it was useful at the time.

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