The invitation-only app, Clubhouse, is promising to tighten security measures following a breach that leaked audio conversations. The user, who is presumed to be from China, allegedly streamed live conversations to their website.

Clubhouse Faces Yet Another Security Issue

A report by Bloomberg brought yet another Clubhouse security flaw to light. An unidentified user reportedly live-streamed audio to their website, and was subsequently banned from the app. According to Bloomberg's report, the user was able to get into "multiple rooms."

Robert Potter, the co-CEO of Internet 2.0, sent out a Tweet containing a screenshot of the user's audio-scraping website. Potter noted that "a user set up a way to remotely share his login with the rest of the world." He also stated that this shouldn't be considered a hack, rather "a violation of the terms of service."

Clubhouse told Bloomberg that it will step up its security, and that it has implemented "safeguards" to prevent this from reoccurring. However, the app still didn't go into detail about the specific measures it will be using.

More Concerns for Clubhouse

Clubhouse was previously criticized for potentially leaving room for Chinese government officials to listen to conversations. In a post on the Stanford Internet Observatory's (SIO) website, the organization expressed concerns over Clubhouse's connection to Agora, the Shanghai-based company that provides Clubhouse's infrastructure.

Any content that crosses the Chinese border could be subject to review by China's government. If that content is believed to be a national security threat, Chinese authorities have the legal right to access it. This is the exact reason why former US President Donald Trump was so bent on banning the Chinese-owned TikTok.

Clubhouse responded to these concerns, stating that it will "add additional encryption and blocks to prevent Clubhouse clients from ever transmitting pings to Chinese servers." It also said that it will have a third-party security firm audit these updates.

As it stands, it doesn't look like Clubhouse properly addressed the initial security concerns brought up by the SIO. Whether the app didn't implement these changes in time, or it just didn't do enough to solve the problem, it will need to come up with a solution if it wants to regain trust among users.

Is Clubhouse Really Worth All the Hype?

Clubhouse is currently only available as an invite-only iOS app, and has already had a number of celebrities make appearances on the app. Elon Musk, Kevin Hart, and Oprah Winfrey are just some of the famous names trying out the exclusive app. But will these potential security issues dampen some of the hype?