WhatsApp, in the clear on Google the numbers of many users
Let's start from the offending function. In practice, Click to chat allows you to create a link to start a conversation with a contact not saved in the address book. The links are generated in this way http://wa.me/numeroditelefono. The problem is that this system is not protected by encryption. As a result, the number will always be visible.
Apparently, once the link link has been sent and shared; this remains on the web as these pages do not have any meta tags that prevent any search engine from indexing them. At this point, the numbers of users who have used the function can be found online with a simple search query on Google such as site: wa.me or site: api.whatsapp.com. You can search by country by entering the national prefix (site: api.whatsapp.com "+39").
By clicking on a number and opening the chat, we will see the person's phone number, nickname, his profile picture and - according to the settings - the status. Potential uses of this data include marketing messages from companies that collect numbers, targeted attacks by sending fraudulent links or viruses, etc.
According to reports from Forbes , WhatsApp has commented: “ the relationship of the researcher contained simply a URL that WhatsApp users chose to make public. All users, including businesses, can block unwanted emails with a simple click of a button ”. Despite this, the app Mark Zuckerberg is updated by solving part of the problem . Doing a search with site:wa.me now no longer show any phone number. On the contrary, by using the query site:api.whatsapp.com the numbers are still visible.
" the numbers of those who have used the Click to chat to be visible by doing a simple search on Google.
