SaferWatch App Leaks Users Private Info

CCSO Has Stopped Using The App While The Incident Is Investigated

Users of the SaferWatch app had their private account information shared publicly via a comment thread on an alert from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). The alert was published to warn people about traffic caused by the Clay County Strawberry Festival. Users could comment on the alert, and the comments were visible to other users.

Screenshots of the comments being made on the SaferWatch app.

Comments caused users with notifications enabled to receive an avalanche of notifications from the app.

Users participating in the chat soon learned that their private contact info and exact location were accessible to anyone who could see the comments.

Screenshots show how much information was publicly available to users of the SaferWatch app. Clay News & Views has redacted sensitive information.

Soon after the incident began, Sheriff Michelle Cook posted to her official Facebook page that the SaferWatch app had been “hacked” without any additional details.

Commenters in the SaferWatch chat tried to help people avoid the barrage of notifications. However, some users stated they were still receiving them even after disabling all messages from the app. Other users took the opportunity to crack jokes and make light of the situation. Eventually, people deleted the app from their phones to avoid the alerts.

Eventually, Sheriff Cook took to Facebook Live to advise that she had spoken with the owner of SaferWatch, who suggested that a ‘glitch’ was the cause of the issue. Cook stated that CCSO would stop using the app and apologized to those impacted by the incident. Clay News & Views will update this story as it develops.