“A privacy bug reported by Brazilian site Mac Magazine allows someone to access hidden message notifications on a locked iPhone by asking Siri to read them,” Ben Lovejoy writes for 9to5Mac.
“As of iOS 11, you can set message notifications to be hidden on your Lock screen – you can see that a message has arrived, but its content is hidden,” Lovejoy writes. “That setting is on by default on the iPhone X, where simply glancing at it will unlock the phone and allow the content to be displayed, while it can be set on other models.”
“The one exception is Apple’s own Messages app, where Siri will read them only if the phone is unlocked. But for other messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram and Skype, Siri will happily disclose the content of the messages to anyone who picks up the locked phone,” Lovejoy writes. “The site verified that the bug is in both iOS 11.2.6 and the beta of iOS 11.3. It has reported it to Apple.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Luckily, Siri sucks so much that nobody uses it. 😉
SEE ALSO:
iOS 11 is such a bugfest that Apple gave one an unintended cameo in latest iPhone X ad – March 19, 2018
Why Apple desperately needs a new Steve Jobs – January 29, 2018
The Washington Post: ‘Why doesn’t Apple make its devices as carefully as it’s making Apple Park?’ – December 11, 2017
Apple Park estimated to cost upwards of $5 billion to build – December 9, 2017
Apple apologizes for poor communication about iPhone batteries and performance; slashes battery replacement cost from $79 to $29 – December 28, 2017
What to do about Apple’s shameful Mac security flaw in macOS High Sierra – November 29, 2017
Apple started working on HomePod in 2012, so why are they so late to the smart speaker market? – November 21, 2017
Why Apple’s HomePod is three years behind Amazon’s Echo – November 21, 2017
Under ‘operations genius’ Tim Cook, product delays and other problems are no longer unusual for Apple – November 20, 2017
Apple delays HomePod release to early 2018 – November 17, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook: The ‘operations genius’ who never has enough products to sell at launch – October 23, 2017
Apple’s Mac Pro debacle: Failure and future – May 8, 2017
Why is Apple’s next-gen Mac Pro taking so long? – April 18, 2017
Apple’s desperate Mac Pro damage control message hints at a confused, divided company – April 6, 2017
Who has taken over at Apple? – April 5, 2017
Apple’s embarrassing Mac Pro mea culpa – April 4, 2017
Who’s going to buy a Mac Pro now? – April 4, 2017
Mac Pro: Why did it take Apple so long to wake up? – April 4, 2017
Apple sorry for what happened with the Mac Pro over the last 3+ years – namely, nothing – April 4, 2017
AirPods: MIA for the holidays; delayed product damages Apple’s credibility, stokes customer frustration – December 9, 2016
Lazy Apple. It’s not hard to imagine Steve Jobs asking, ‘What have you been doing for the last four years?’ – December 9, 2016
Apple is misplaying the hand Steve Jobs left them – November 30, 2016
Apple delays AirPod rollout – October 26, 2016
Apple delays release of watchOS 2 due to bug – September 16, 2015
Apple delays HomeKit launch until autumn – May 14, 2015
Open letter to Tim Cook: Apple needs to do better – January 5, 2015
Apple delays production of 12.9-inch ‘iPad Pro’ in face of overwhelming iPhone 6/Plus demand – October 9, 2014
Tim Cook’s mea culpa: iMac launch should have been postponed – April 24, 2013
Personally, I could not care less if someone were able to access my text messages via Siri. They would get such titillating fare as “Don’t forget to pick Kyle up at 5” or “Get milk on your way home” along with “K” and such. Of course, I use iMessage, so this bug does not apply to me, anyway.
However, this is not a sign of good quality control. Apple should strictly impose user privacy settings on all third party apps, not just its own. Am I surprised that there are bugs in iOS? Not at all. But I would strongly prefer that they were not associated with holes in security and privacy.
Another small glitch that is meaningless, I doubt anyone has something so secret that if Siri was told to read it, anyone would care.. Apple should fix it, and instead of whining about in a article, did he even bother to send Apple any feedback..
Apologists. Just because you don’t care about privacy doesn’t mean that others accept this. When dealing with business clients, confidentiality is paramount.
This stuff is not easily dismissed event if the incessant iOS fanboy narrative is that Apple is 100% secure. This is Microsoft level quality.
Agree. And the hiring of ex-Microsoft employees is taking its toll. The Microsoft tax keeps on giving!!
Thanks…Apple…
You are really doing well lately…
#sarcasm
Might as well be called iOSdroid with the bugs that continue to keep appearing.
Caretaker Rim Cook fails again! Pipeline Timmy effs up again! Blah blah I’m stupid.
Hey, but that bug, very small bug, could be piggybacked by another bug to hijack your iPhone camera to capture you snorting a line of cocaine. No big deal, right?
I agree with Only You. Why should people with formal engineering degrees be hired from other companies to fill positions at Apple. Why not have a formal training program to fill engineer shortages with regular Joe’s with tech aptitudes and indoctrinate them properly from the ground up. At least they would think and perform more like Apple. Of course this would take longer, but it may be better for their product eventually.
Why are you blaming Apple for what a 3rd party app does? Where’s the setting in their app to block Siri from reading hidden notifications?
Do these 3rd party engineers not test their apps?