TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The editor of Whisper, an app for people to share secrets anonymously, has angrily denied reports that it has been tracking users and sharing data, as reported by BBC News.
The Guardian newspaper claims Whisper has an in-house tool which can track the locations of all its users.
This includes some who have specifically opted out of sharing location details, the report claims.
Whisper editor Neetzan Zimmerman tweeted that the article was "riddled with outright lies and made-up quotes".
The Guardian also claimed the app was tracking "newsworthy" posters and was sharing data with the US Department of Defense in instances where secrets were uploaded from military bases.
"We are not sharing specific user data with any organisation," wrote Mr Zimmerman in response.
"We noticed how frequently suicide is mentioned among those living on US military bases or compounds and reached out to organisations to see how we could work together to address this important issue."
However, he added that "violent or child-endangering threats" were reported to law enforcement agents "to protect our users and the public".
BBC NEWS | THE GUARDIAN