Houseparty Insist It Is Not Hacking Accounts On Your Phone And Claims Rumours Were Part Of ‘Commercial Sabotage Campaign’
31 March 2020, 11:18
Video call app Houseparty became the subject of a string of viral tweets claiming the service hacks accounts for other apps on your phone, including mobile banking and Spotify.
Houseparty is offering a $1million (£800k) reward for proof they were the victim of commercial sabotage, following viral claims their video chat app was resulting in people’s private information being accessed.
On Monday, rumours began to emerge that users were seeing accounts for other apps they use being hacked, such as Netflix and Spotify.
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There were also claims people’s bank accounts were being hacked into.
Houseparty, like many other group video call apps, has seen a huge increase in downloads over the past six weeks, as the world began to go into lockdown to slow the spread of the current coronavirus pandemic.
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Houseparty has addressed concerns and is insisting there’s “no evidence” to back up the allegations.
Online gaming company Epic Games, who bought Houseparty in 2019, have promised to pay $1million (£800,000) if someone can provide evidence the app has been the victim of commercial sabotage.
Users’ concerns were sparked on Monday when several people began sharing screenshots claiming they’d been logged out of several other apps they use since downloading Houseparty.
These were followed up by calls to delete Houseparty.
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Houseparty does not access third-party apps such as Spotify, but it does request permission to users' contacts and Facebook Friends when you make an account.
Addressing the allegations, a spokesperson for Epic Games said in a statement: “We've found no evidence to suggest a link between Houseparty and the compromises of other unrelated accounts.
"As a general rule, we suggest all users choose strong passwords when creating online accounts on any platform."
They also tweeted: “All Houseparty accounts are safe – the service is secure, has never been compromised, and doesn’t collect passwords for other sites.”
The group video chat app has seen an average of two million downloads since the middle of March, when the entire world began to go into lockdown in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.
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