What do you need to know before downloading Club House?
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2025 4:51 am
Since its debut, Clubhouse, an invite-only audio chat service, has topped the App Store downloads charts, growing its audience from 600,000 to 10 million in just a few weeks. For good and bad reasons, the name seems to be on everyone’s lips these days. Amid the hype, it’s easy to overlook the threats to your privacy and even your wallet.
But after all, what is Clubhouse?
In case you’re on an island without internet and uk mobile database heard of it yet, it’s an app that offers a space for audio chats. Users can listen in or join a conversation (with the organizer’s permission). One of Clubhouse’s first big-name fans was Elon Musk, whose tweet in late January sparked a surge of interest in the service. Mark Zuckerberg followed suit, then Drake and other celebrities. These endorsements are gold, and Clubhouse’s audience has grown rapidly.
However, with the app still in beta testing, and scammers ever-vigilantly looking to cash in on new social media, security is far from perfect.
The other Clubhouse
Clubhouse has caused quite a stir, but also some confusion. When Elon Musk announced his arrival on the social network, investors rushed to buy shares, but mistook it for a similar-sounding but entirely different organization. The “right” Clubhouse hasn’t even gone public yet.
Furthermore, Clubhouse is currently an iPhone-only app. That didn’t stop some chat lovers from downloading a project management app of the same name from Google Play. Having discovered their mistake, angry users bombarded the app, forcing its creators to temporarily pull it from the store.
These issues, while not major, do not pose a direct threat to Clubhouse users. Unfortunately, though, Google Play is also home to a number of blatant Clubhouse knockoffs. Smartphone or tablet users who install these apps risk giving cybercriminals access to their online banking and social media passwords, as well as their contact lists, not to mention being bombarded with banner ads.
A large number of fake Clubhouse apps for Android have appeared on Google Play
A large number of fake Clubhouse apps for Android have appeared on Google Play
Android users who want to take part in the new features on Clubhouse will just have to keep an eye on the Clubhouse website and wait for the official app to launch on Google Play.
Clubhouse Privacy Issues
Since Clubhouse is still in beta, it should be limited to a small number of people, making it easier to spot and fix bugs. Unsurprisingly, some bugs have surfaced in the app’s security system.
In the app's short history, experts have had to issue several reminders that the app does not guarantee user privacy.
In mid-February, researchers at the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) discovered that user and chat room IDs are transmitted to servers in plain text. SIO suggested that Agora, a Chinese provider of backend infrastructure for Clubhouse, likely has access to users’ raw audio, though no one has confirmed or refuted the claim.
A few days after SIO posted, rumors of leaked recordings appeared on Twitter, and Clubhouse soon confirmed them. What happened was this: a certain user managed to stream content from the app on its own website. The company did not comment on the incident in detail, but clarified that the user violated the privacy policy; it was not a hack. The culprit was banned, the developers promised to fix the bug, but how many other flaws remain in the software – which, again, is in beta – is hard to say.
SIO also notes that a tech-savvy person could easily figure out the app’s code. A developer from St. Petersburg proved this in practice by creating an unofficial Clubhouse client for Android in one day. This is yet another reason for users to think about what vulnerabilities might be hidden in the code.
But after all, what is Clubhouse?
In case you’re on an island without internet and uk mobile database heard of it yet, it’s an app that offers a space for audio chats. Users can listen in or join a conversation (with the organizer’s permission). One of Clubhouse’s first big-name fans was Elon Musk, whose tweet in late January sparked a surge of interest in the service. Mark Zuckerberg followed suit, then Drake and other celebrities. These endorsements are gold, and Clubhouse’s audience has grown rapidly.
However, with the app still in beta testing, and scammers ever-vigilantly looking to cash in on new social media, security is far from perfect.
The other Clubhouse
Clubhouse has caused quite a stir, but also some confusion. When Elon Musk announced his arrival on the social network, investors rushed to buy shares, but mistook it for a similar-sounding but entirely different organization. The “right” Clubhouse hasn’t even gone public yet.
Furthermore, Clubhouse is currently an iPhone-only app. That didn’t stop some chat lovers from downloading a project management app of the same name from Google Play. Having discovered their mistake, angry users bombarded the app, forcing its creators to temporarily pull it from the store.
These issues, while not major, do not pose a direct threat to Clubhouse users. Unfortunately, though, Google Play is also home to a number of blatant Clubhouse knockoffs. Smartphone or tablet users who install these apps risk giving cybercriminals access to their online banking and social media passwords, as well as their contact lists, not to mention being bombarded with banner ads.
A large number of fake Clubhouse apps for Android have appeared on Google Play
A large number of fake Clubhouse apps for Android have appeared on Google Play
Android users who want to take part in the new features on Clubhouse will just have to keep an eye on the Clubhouse website and wait for the official app to launch on Google Play.
Clubhouse Privacy Issues
Since Clubhouse is still in beta, it should be limited to a small number of people, making it easier to spot and fix bugs. Unsurprisingly, some bugs have surfaced in the app’s security system.
In the app's short history, experts have had to issue several reminders that the app does not guarantee user privacy.
In mid-February, researchers at the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) discovered that user and chat room IDs are transmitted to servers in plain text. SIO suggested that Agora, a Chinese provider of backend infrastructure for Clubhouse, likely has access to users’ raw audio, though no one has confirmed or refuted the claim.
A few days after SIO posted, rumors of leaked recordings appeared on Twitter, and Clubhouse soon confirmed them. What happened was this: a certain user managed to stream content from the app on its own website. The company did not comment on the incident in detail, but clarified that the user violated the privacy policy; it was not a hack. The culprit was banned, the developers promised to fix the bug, but how many other flaws remain in the software – which, again, is in beta – is hard to say.
SIO also notes that a tech-savvy person could easily figure out the app’s code. A developer from St. Petersburg proved this in practice by creating an unofficial Clubhouse client for Android in one day. This is yet another reason for users to think about what vulnerabilities might be hidden in the code.