Check the cover of EL PAÍS, América Edition, on Friday, August 16 » MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING The challenge of the ‘mobile neighbor’ endangers the privacy of WhatsApp users

[Mr.Espinoza ♔♔♔]

 

A new "challenge" that is going viral can jeopardize the privacy of WhatsApp users. If during the next few days you receive a message from an unknown number with the text: Hello, I am your number neighbor! will be the victim of the viral challenge of the moment. This practice consists of sending to the number before or after yours (for example, if the user's number is 6XX XXX XX8, he would write to the 6XX XXX XX7 or 6XX XXX XX9 a presentation message as his number neighbor. Then there is who makes a screenshot and shares the image with the reaction of the user in social networks (especially on Twitter) and endangers the privacy of the users.

This practice is not new. It started in the US in iMessage, an instant messaging service developed by Apple included in the iOS application for free. In Spain it has arrived via WhatsApp. The company owned by Facebook, was created in 2009 and, after its appearance, many messages became viral all over the world in a few months. Blackouts due to climate change, campaigns to search for missing persons or other messages to mock other users such as not pressing certain emoticons because the phone could be blocked.

The reactions of the users when they receive this type of messages are very varied. The most common is to ignore or forward the texts although many people change the original message, which ends up becoming many times, in lies that circulate through the network. In the case of the number neighbor's challenge, not everyone can find it comfortable to be contacted by an unknown person, although there are many users who are perpetuating this challenge and flooding social networks with these screenshots.

However, users must be aware of the risks that your “number neighbor” finds you. One of the most dangerous things is that it is possible to locate you. "Simply if you have a profile picture that puts you in an emblematic site or revealing without realizing where you are on vacation, for example in a story," says Laura Burillo, technology consultant at Entelgy Innotec Security.

Although it can be avoided by configuring your personal environment. “It is essential to worry about setting up the private sphere,” says Sergio Maldonado, CEO of Privacy Cloud. "So that they do not publish your data, it is essential that your profile picture and your last connection time only be seen by your contacts," he adds.

In addition, there is a greater risk. When a user signs up on Instagram, the app asks for their phone number. By entering it, you give the application permission to access your contacts. It is a very useful technique to find your friends quickly but also a weapon for "neighbor seekers". "The number neighbor adds you to your address book and connects you to your contact search engine on your own Instagram account," Maldonado explains. You can check who you are if you have not changed the WhatsApp photo, and you also have access to all your publications. To prevent this from happening, you have to remove the phone number from the profile of the social network. On Instagram it is possible to delete the phone (in the edit profile tab).

If you have taken all these precautions, do not answer and there will be no way of knowing who you are. Entelgy Innotec Security recommends not giving real personal data. If certain personal information such as the name, job or name of the pet is shared, clues can be given for a stranger to find out where they live, work and even personal passwords.

If it has happened to you and you find out that there is a photo of you published, the first thing you have to do is contact the person on the Twitter profile or the social network and urge them to delete the content. "If this does not work, you have to resort to the complaint section of each social network and request the removal of the content as inappropriate," concludes Burillo.