In the latest version of Clear, if I swipe a list to the right, then that list is shared at a URL location on share.useclear.com. This is also true if I simply take a screenshot of the list.
There is no authentication needed to access the list, and the items are stored in plaintext at this URL. They are clearly stored in plaintext on Clear’s servers. This is a gross mishandling of user data from a privacy and security perspective.
In addition, this user interaction previously allowed the list to be copied as plaintext (without immediately hosting it on the Internet), leading to a situation in which doing something that previously appeared to be privacy preserving is now instead horrifically the opposite.
Unless this feature can be entirely disabled I will have discontinue my use of Clear, and I would recommend that others do the same.
My use-case for clear does not raise concerns about what I’m sharing. But I see the problem. Especially as bumping a list shares it with no way to cancel. You have to go to the list of shares and remove it.
I feel that list-sharing, while cool, isn’t going to be used enough to be that easy to activate.
At least add a cancel button, or make the user pull the list further
I agree that this Privacy issue is a very important concern. I did read elsewhere another user suggesting that the shared list be saved to your iPhone instead and this would seem to negate the privacy concerns.
The sharing of lists into a shared folder does also provide an elegant solution to having a personal template list which I would use regularly.
I also would like to see the Clear team bring back the ability to share a plain text copy of the list which was most valuable to me.
I do find the ability to share lists is a tremendous feature and hope that the Clear team can find an appropriate solution.
I agree with this concern, I reverted to an earlier build because of it. I think it would be nice to integrate it into the popup menu that happens in earlier builds when you took a screenshot and letting you choose what action you want to take.
Here’s hoping they bring back the plain text copy and long screenshot options, I use them way more than link sharing.
Hmm can you check for me if the shared lists you deleted are still up on the server? I believe right now the situation is they should be deleted (and the link for now will not resolve) but we may need to look at caching if it’s not instant.
Also it is not intended for screenshot to be triggering this by default! Going to see if we should push out a hot fix or wrap in that fix into the next TF that will intersect this. (Personalizable gestures, which ‘screenshot’ will likely be one you can customize, and it will probably default to do nothing but allow you to rig up to share as text, image, link options)
The way we are approaching the design and privacy/security is kind of simple. We want to make it friction free as possible to share, but also to delete anything you don’t want out or up there, so the links are analogous kind of to unlisted YouTube videos and such. Obviously the lists are unlisted from google search. But it is by design that you don’t need a password, or accounts, to just click a shared list link and view it. I feel like this direction is viable but needs some polish.
Also just confirmed with our team that they are encrypted on the server. The URLs basically unlock and decrypt them.
I think the initial release lacks some important polish such as in-app onboarding the first time you try to share to make it crystal clear what’s going on. (I tried to explain clearly in email + TestFlight notes but I really a lot of people kind of skip over.)
And we should make sure deleted lists instantly vaporize on the server like we intend with the design.
Finally I will note the plain text / share as image options will be returning, they are just tied to the next TestFlight which will bring some personalizable gestures and actions you can customize. So by the new Clear’s release you should be able to swap out the share function for the one you prefer.
We just changed things with caching on the server so any lists you deleted should be gone from server + any new shared list you delete should now delete MUCH more quickly. In my personal testing so far it’s instantaneous, but please let me know if it takes longer for you.
Sure! Appreciate you posting your initial reaction/concerns. Important to make this cozier as we can and also more clearly introduce it. If we keep it the default pull to share action agree we need to add a first time posting confirmation/onboarding of some kind, even if it’s a simple popup.
You should see an option to disable before release. We’re working on personalizable gestures this week, I don’t think we’ll get to personalizable swipe actions with this initial preview build but planning to follow up on that with Gestures Part 2 later on. So on that beta you could swap it out for share an image or text version of the list, or even nothing if you’d like.