Gay Hook-Up App Jack’d Has Bug That Allows Anyone To View And Download Your Private Photos

A data bug in the gay hook-up app Jack’d allows anyone to download your private photos.

As the Register reported on Tuesday, anyone with a web browser who knows where to look can access any Jack’d user’s photos, “be they private or public – all without authentication or even the need to sign in to the app. Nor are there any limits in place: anyone can download the entire image database for whatever mischief they want to get into, be it blackmail or outing somebody in a country where homosexuality is illegal and/or gays are harassed.”

The phone application, installed more than 110,000 times on Android devices and also available for iOS, lets primarily gay and bi men chat each other up, exchange private and public pics, and arrange to meet.

The Register says that makers of the app have known about the security concerns for more than three months.

Researcher Oliver Hough, who said he found and reported the security shortcoming to the Jack’d team, demonstrated to The Register how the programming bug can be exploited.

Hough said “The app should place strict access restrictions on which images should be viewable, so that if one user allows another user to see a sext pic, only the receiver should be allowed to see it. Instead, it is possible to see everyone’s naked selfies, to be frank.”

A query to Jack’d was not returned by press time.

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Gay Hook-Up App Jack’d Has Bug That Allows Anyone To View And Download Your Private Photos

HRC Foundation to Honor Actress Josie Totah at Time to THRIVE Conference

Today, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) announced that it will honor actress and advocate Josie Totah with an Upstander Award at the organization’s sixth annual Time to THRIVE Conference on February 15-17 at the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, California. HRC also announced that the band OneUp will perform on the opening night of the conference.

“By living her truth as a trans woman, Josie is setting an inspiring example for trans and gender-expansive young people everywhere that they can live and thrive as their true selves,” said Vincent Pompei, Director of HRC’s Youth Well-Being Project and Time to THRIVE conference. “We are so proud to call this amazing young actor part of our HRC family, and know that her powerful message will galvanize the youth-serving professionals at Time to THRIVE to go back to their communities with a renewed commitment to help create affirming, supportive spaces for LGBTQ young people.”

Last year, Totah, who starred in the NBC sitcom Champions, came out as transgender in a powerful op-ed for Time. “My pronouns are she, her and hers,” Totah wrote. “I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female. And my name is Josie Totah.” She explained that watching transgender teen and former HRC Foundation Youth Ambassador Jazz Jennings share her journey on her “I Am Jazz” reality television series provided a powerful model for her. At the time, both Totah and Jennings were 14.

“I looked over at (my mother) in the middle of the show and said, ‘This is me. I’m transgender. And I need to go through this,’” Totah said. “My mother, who is immensely supportive and gracious, said, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’” Totah began her acting career at a young age, with breakout television roles on the  Disney Channel and network shows, including a recurring role on Glee. Last year, HRC was proud to honor the young trailblazer with the HRC Visibility Award at the 2018 HRC Salt Lake Gala.

OneUp — comprised of couple Adam Bastien and Jerome Bell — first wowed the judges of The Voice with their rendition of The Spinners’ “Could It Be We’re Falling in Love.”

At Time to THRIVE, Totah will join other special guests, including LGBTQ advocate and mother of Ellen DeDeneres Betty DeGeneres; President and Founder of the Dolores Huerta Foundation Dolores Huerta; parent-advocate, founder of FreeMomHugs and subject of an upcoming Jamie Lee Curtis project Sara Cunningham; transgender trailblazer Jazz Jennings and her mother Jeanette Jennings; Los Angeles Rams cheerleader Quinton Peron; and others.

HRC previously announced that it will honor advocates Adam Rippon, Brian Coleman, E.J. Johnson and Judy and Dennis Shepard with an Upstander Award during the Time to THRIVE conference. HRC’s Parents for Transgender Equality Council, HRC’s Youth Ambassadors and HRC’s Welcoming Schools Program will also be featured at the conference.

HRC’s Time to THRIVE Conference is the premier event addressing the safety, inclusion and well-being of LGBTQ and questioning youth. The event brings together a wide range of youth-serving professionals to discuss best practices for working with and caring for LGBTQ youth and their families in schools, community centers, health care settings and beyond. It is co-presented by the National Education Association and the American Counseling Association. BBVA Compass, AT&T and Toyota  are presenting sponsors of the event.

The Time to THRIVE Conference features 65 workshops by more than 45 national and grassroots organizations dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ youth. HRC’s Youth Ambassadors and Welcoming Schools will also be featured at the conference. Additional speakers and honorees will be announced at a later date. To register, visit www.TimeToTHRIVE.org.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-foundation-to-honor-actress-josie-totah-at-time-to-thrive-conference?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

LGBTQ People in Nebraska Were Alone for Decades. No Longer.

The establishment of the state’s first LGBTQ rights organization is both symbolic and pragmatic.

www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/2/06/lgbtq-people-nebraska-were-alone-decades-no-longer

Newly Passed Law Will Require New Jersey Schools To Teach LGBT History

New Jersey has become the second state in the nation after California ito require public schools to teach LGBT history. The measure was signed by Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday and modeled after the law that passed in California in 2011 according to KATC3 in New Jersey.

The law says that New Jersey boards of education “must adopt instruction that accurately portrays the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, where appropriate.”

The law also includes a requirement for schools to teach about people with disabilities and their historical contributions.

“Young people are learning about LGBT people already in schools but their identities are hidden,” said Christian Fuscarino, executive director of Garden State Equality told CNN, which advocated for the bill over several assembly sessions. “Figures like Bayard Rustin, who was the right-hand man to Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil rights, was a gay man.”

“The Governor believes that ensuring students learn about diverse histories will help build more tolerant communities and strengthen educational outcomes,” Murphy’s office said in a statement.

Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora, an original sponsor of the bill, was one of two openly gay members of the legislature at the time said CNN.

“We often see in classrooms across the country the bullying of LGBT students, and this is a way they can incorporate into the curriculum that there are gay Americans that have made vast contributions to this nation,” Gusciora told CNN. “This is a way of encouraging students who feel that they’re outcasts that they too can make a contribution to American society.”

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Newly Passed Law Will Require New Jersey Schools To Teach LGBT History

Two Black Gay Men Are Dead, But Ed Buck Is Still Home

While his home of West Hollywood is roiled by outrage and protests, the wealthy Democratic donor continues to sleep in his own bed.

www.advocate.com/news/2019/2/06/two-black-gay-men-are-dead-ed-buck-still-home