Samsung sharing pics without permission

Galaxy S9 and S9+. © Samsung.

Samsung smartphones are no longer spontaneously combusting, but another weird and disturbing quirk has arisen: some users have had their pictures randomly sent to others. According to complaints on Reddit and on official Samsung forums, several Samsung phone users, including those with recent models like the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S9, have reported having this upsetting experience. The problem seems to stem from Samsung Messages, the default application on Galaxy devices, which, for reasons unknown, mistakenly sends images stored on devices to random contacts. One Reddit user even said that Samsung Messages, not content with sending one photo, sent an entire photo gallery to a contact. Imagine some of your (very) private photos sent to your Mum, your boss, or a business partner... it’s enough to give you chills. One of the most disturbing things about this bug is that the user doesn’t receive any notification that their photos were shared, meaning they have no clue that their pictures are out there.

⇨ Circuit Breaker, “Samsung phones are spontaneously texting users’ photos to random contacts without their permission.”