Some Samsung smartphone users are reporting that their devices are randomly sending pictures from the camera roll to their contacts without permission. Those affected by the issue have posted about it on Reddit and Samsung’s support forums, with one user saying all of his photos were spontaneously sent to his girlfriend.
According to many of the reports, the messages are being sent via the phone’s own Messages app and doesn’t appear to indicate that any files were sent, leaving users to find out only when the recipient notifies them.
The company has told Gizmodo that it’s “aware of the reports” and that it’s “technical teams are looking into it”.
“Concerned customers are encouraged to contact us directly at 1-800-SAMSUNG.”
The cause of the bug is still unconfirmed, but the leading theory at this stage is to do with how the phone’s Messages app is handling recent RCS profile updates which carriers like T-Mobile in the US have been rolling out. That’s not to say Australia won’t be hit by the bug, but if the theory is correct, only those on Telstra should be affected, as it’s the only telco in the country to support RCS.
T-Mobile has responded to a number of outlets stating the issue has nothing to do with them and that affected users should contact Samsung directly.
If those in your contacts list start copping entire galleries worth of photos from you, or you’d rather er on the side of caution, there’s a couple of ways to prevent it from happening. Firstly, you can revoke the phone’s ability to access storage via the Messages app settings, which will stop you sending anything stored on your device whether you want to or not. Not totally ideal, but if you’ve got sensitive files or photos, it’s a safe bet.
The second option is to switch to a different messaging app like Android Messages until Samsung resolve the issue completely. Fingers crossed a fix comes sooner rather than later.
