There was a buzz on the internet about the Indian Twitter alternative of the Koo app, Recently Some People claiming that there was a data leak in the Koo app, Security Researchers Verified that was a false claim, here what exactly you need to know.
What is Koo?
Koo is a Micro-Blogging platform developed by Bangalore based Company Bombinate Technologies Private Limited, this app has a decent userbase, it is considered as an alternative to Twitter which is available on the web as well as playstore and Apple store
Who has developed or created Koo?
Koo is Developed by Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka
What is special about Koo?
Koo is an alternative to Twitter, a microblogging platform developed by India, a few days ago Twitter denied the request of banning some accounts on its platform which Indian government claimed those fake accounts spreading fake news
After some days Govt Officials Started Moving to Koo a Micro-blogging platform, in spite the userbase is quietly increased
What about the Chinese connection
Some people shared screenshots claiming Koo is a Chinese backed platform
And that was fake, the truth is
The domain http://kooapp.com was traded many times before it was registered by Bombinate Technologies
What about the data leak claim
On 11th February a Twitter user Elliot Alderson has claimed that the Koo app is leaking the personal data of its users
You asked so I did it. I spent 30 min on this new Koo app. The app is leaking of the personal data of his users: email, dob, name, marital status, gender, ... https://t.co/87Et18MrOg pic.twitter.com/qzrXeFBW0L
— Baptiste Robert (@fs0c131y) February 10, 2021
In response to that a Twitter user Er. RewCie (CoE) did a fact check and said that’s a false claim
[Thread]
— Er. Abhas Kumar Sinha (RewCie - CoE)🚀🇮🇳 (@abhas_rewcie) February 11, 2021
This guy, called @fs0c131y just posted a screenshot claiming that he found a vulnerability that this app (Koo) is leaking personal data of the users and is unsafe for use. Here is the #factcheck of his claim. pic.twitter.com/MomfA9jYuq
Here what he said
Is Koo App leaking Personal user data at all? No! The JSON db shows the exact thing which the user has permitted for the public view. It wasn't a hack or vulnerability at all. It's total Bullshit! The guy was involved in various such gimmicks before and I was blocked for exposing
you can read the Twitter thread here on threadreaderapp
Some news about data leaking being spoken about unnecessarily. Please read this:
— Aprameya R (@aprameya) February 11, 2021
The data visible is something that the user has voluntarily shown on their profile of Koo. It cannot be termed a data leak. If you visit a user profile you can see it anyway