A small number of people that own Samsung smartphones have reported that their devices have been randomly sending out photos from their gallery to their contacts without their knowledge.
The reports come via Samsung’s forums and Reddit.
via Business Insider:
A Reddit user reported their Samsung phone sent their entire photo gallery to their girlfriend. Another reported that their device sent photos to their wife.
Specifically, the photos were sent over Samsung’s stock text messaging app. Notably, there’s also no record that the photos were sent from an affected users’ phone, according to the Reddit user.
So far, some of the affected users have pointed fingers to a recent T-Mobile update that including advanced texting features, like read receipts and an indicator that shows when the contact you’re messaging is typing. However, T-Mobile told Gizmodo that it’s not a T-Mobile issue.
The affected devices appear to be exclusive to the most recent Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, and it’s unclear whether other models are affected.
Samsung commented to Business Insider, saying: “We are aware of the reports regarding this matter and our technical teams are looking into it. Concerned customers are encouraged to contact us directly at 1-800-SAMSUNG.”
This is clearly problematic. A Reddit user expressed their concern by saying “This sounds like a nightmare for me as I have lots and lots of clients in my phone. It would be very bad if they had access to my gallery.”
One temporary solution is to use a different messaging app, like Google’s own Android Messages app that comes standard on the Google Pixel 2 smartphones.
If you have one of the aforementioned devices and have photos in your gallery you have no business having — you might want to take this time to clear them out before they end up in the wrong hands.
