An Apple user has dragged Microsoft’s LinkedIn to court over allegation of accessing data on the Clipboard app on iOS devices. LinkedIn, in recent times, have joined the apps that have been caught fiddling with user data, using the clipboard app on the iOS device.
Adam Bauer, an iOS user, has filled a complaint against LinkedIn, claiming that LinkedIn accessed the clipboard app on his device without permission, and said the LinkedIn app has access to sensitive information that have been on the clipboard app. Bauer further claimed that LinkedIn has been spying on its users.
Apple’s iOS has a feature that allows users to access the content of the clipboard app, not just from one device, but from a network of devices they have connected with. Using the Universal Clipboard feature, iOS and iPadOS users can share text, images, videos, files, etc, on the clipboard app with other users they choose to share with.
Adam Bauer complained that if he had known that the LinkedIn app can access his clipboard data, he wouldn’t have used the app. He stated that with the Universal Clipboard feature on iOS, the app could as well, access the data on other devices that share clipboard with his device.
Apple has put a feature on the new iOS 14. This feature alerts the user when an app has gained access to the clipboard app, and is using the information on the clipboard app for whatever reason. This feature is one of the features Apple has added to iOS 14. Read other features added to iOS 14 here.
The feature added to the new iOS 14 has been exposing some apps accessing the clipboard app. Tiktok has been reported to access the clipboard app, and this security and privacy breach has been dealing TikTok serious blow from brands around the world giving instructions to remove the app from devices associated with them.
Other apps that have been caught to be fiddling with user data on iOS 14 clipboard app are AccuWeather app, AliExpress, Tiktok, and now, LinkedIn. All-together, more than 50 apps have been flagged to access the clipboard, after Apple’s latest privacy feature started notifying users when information on the Clipboard app is used by any app.