Fleek app that was started in 2015 on Georgetown University and now defunct has become the talk among many sophomores of some major universities across America.
Reason, a cloud configuration error committed on an Amazon Web Services (AWS) bucket is said to have exposed over 377,000 files- 32GB information and that includes X rated deleted photos of users of Fleek, the subsidiary of Squid Inc.
To those uninitiated, the app was developed as a competitor to Snapchat, but with a freedom to upload any uncensored photos along with some sensational college stories.
Recently, a security researcher somehow made an entry into an AWS bucket to dig out the files, only to find some old X rated photos of the app users.
In practical, the app allowed its users to upload any content related to photos with a promise that the content will be deleted after a certain period. And to a large extent, the app kept its promise.
However, a recent server dig made by a vpnMentor’s security team discovered that many photos related to Fleek were never deleted and were actually lying on a cloud storage as archives.
Who stored it and for what purpose is yet to be known as the investigation is still on.
According to a source, the images include the content showing college students indulging in some ‘Naughty’ and embarrassing acts, including drug abuse.
Note- They are many companies that invite users to upload any videos or photos onto their app platforms. But after sometime, the firms that host such apps either turn bankrupt or shut down business for various reasons. And this is when the data privacy trouble shoots up, as there is no content monitoring or policing system to penalize defunct companies or apps. So, what do the app owners do with all the uploaded data- well, in most cases they sell it to companies that are hungry for such content…..!
