IDENTITY UNDER ATTACK · EPISODE 20

The App That Knew Too Much

Sam expected two or three connected apps. There were nine, including a quiz from a slow Friday four years ago with access to every file.

Identity Under Attack, episode 20: The App That Knew Too Much. Fragment 20, the permissions.

Sam took the quiz on a slow Friday four years ago and forgot it by Monday. The permission they gave it never forgot anything.

7:45 PM. Wednesday.

Sam was on the last item of a long tidy-up: a page in their work account settings called connected apps. They had never opened it. They expected two or three things there.

There were nine.

Five of the nine apps connected to Sam's work account: a calendar sync and a design plug-in in use, plus an old quiz, a PDF converter and a defunct scheduling tool that still have access to contacts and files.

Most were familiar. A calendar sync. The design plug-in they used every day. And, about halfway down, a quiz called Which design era are you?

Sam vaguely remembered it: a slow Friday, four years ago. It had asked to connect to their account to save the result. Sam had tapped allow.

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