Telepathic chat support

Sometimes scary things happen on the internet. This is a first-person account of something quite disturbing I had the displeasure of experiencing today.

The discarded message

I’m receiving support on a website through a live chat widget. The name of the customer support person I’m chatting with is Fiona. She is very attentive. As soon as I send a message her reply comes flying back at me immediately.

We are discussing an issue that involves many small details, and it’s hard for me to figure out which parts of the problem are relevant. In the midst of typing yet another message I decide that this specific detail isn’t relevant and discard the message.

We exchange a few more messages. Then, to my complete surprise, Fiona casually mentions a piece of information that was only available in the discarded message. I go back and confirm that I didn’t send that message. A couple of awkward seconds pass before we continue chatting until the problem is resolved.

Telepathy

Afterwards I’m left with this strange eerie feeling. What the fuck just happened? Does Fiona have telepathic super powers? Did I in fact mention that piece of information unknowingly?

Before I even finish my line of though I already know the obvious answer: Fiona was able to see what I was typing as I was typing it. To me, that is the only reasonable explanation of how she knew the contents of the discarded message. I save a copy of the chat log for future reference and start researching.

The chat widget on the website contains a small “Powered by Tidio” link. I navigate to the features page on Tidio’s website and… Well, there it is:

I mutter some swear words while trying to calm myself down. Through additional research I discover that there are other chat systems that offer similar features. I shake my head in disbelief.

That’s not how this works

Message based communication is based on exchanging messages. I send you something, you send me something back. That’s how letters, e-mail, SMS, chat, etc. work.

A core part of exchanging messages is that you get to finish your message before you send it. The recipient does not get to see what you are typing before you decide that they should. It’s up to you when the message is finished and whether or not you send it.

This principle was violated without warning while I was chatting with Fiona. I expected that she wouldn’t able to see my messages before I sent them to her. Thanks to Tidio, she was able to intrude on my assumed privacy without consent.

Don’t assume. Expect the worst.