Pornography can be a divisive subject, but even the most liberal-minded consumers probably don't want their erotic viewing habits to go public.
Consumers of adult media should therefore be careful when using BlackBerry's new OS10. By tweaking one innocuous setting, users could automatically broadcast viewing porn right alongside their music playlists.
OS10, which runs on BlackBerry's new Z10 phone, offers users the chance to share their media habits with friends. By selecting the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app, going into "Settings," and selecting "Show what I'm listening to," your phone will stream updates about your listening habits to other BlackBerry users.
On its own, this action sounds harmless enough, but here's the catch: OS10 uses its default media player to stream your musical tastes. It also uses its default media player to watch videos online.
If you visit a porn website on your phone and catch a video, your BlackBerry will broadcast that viewing to your friends, just the same as if you had listened to a song.
The good news is that this setting is disabled by default. Out of the box, your Z10 will keep your porn viewing habits (or ABBA playlists, whichever is worse) between you and your device.
If you've already enabled it, simply deselecting "Show what I'm listening to" will fix your problem, although unfortunately, it can't erase what your friends have already seen. [See also: How to Set Your Smartphone's Social Privacy Settings ]
One small measure of solace for those affected is that OS10 only streams the name of the site, not the individual videos in question. Your friends might know you visited pornhub.com, but whatever content you consumed there — no matter how unusual — is still your business.
BlackBerry will probably issue a fix for this issue in the near future, so keep an eye out for upcoming security news, or else restrict your 18-plus viewing habits to another machine. The Supreme Court once defined obscenity as "I know it when I see it;" your friends will probably know it, too.
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