Top iPhone call-recording app shuts down after leaking users’ calls, transcripts, and phone numbers

Call recording

A viral new app called Neon, which promised to pay people for recording their phone calls, has landed in hot water after a major security flaw exposed users’ personal conversations and phone numbers.

Launched just last week, Neon quickly climbed into the top five free iPhone apps and racked up 75,000 downloads in a single day, according to Appfigures. The app pitched itself as a way for users to earn money by letting their call recordings be used to train and improve AI models. But the hype didn’t last long.

TechCrunch discovered that Neon’s servers were not secure, allowing any logged-in user to access other people’s call recordings, transcripts, and even phone numbers. During a test, reporters found that the app’s back end could be manipulated to reveal not only their own calls but also the most recent calls of other users. The leaked data included audio files, transcripts, caller and receiver phone numbers, call duration, and how much each call had earned.

In some cases, the transcripts suggested that users may have been secretly recording real conversations with friends, family, or colleagues just to make money on the app. Importantly, while only people who installed Neon were directly recorded, those on the other end of the call had no way of knowing their conversations were being captured.

After TechCrunch alerted Neon’s founder, Alex Kiam, the app’s servers were quickly taken offline. Kiam later emailed users, saying the app was being paused to add “extra layers of security.” However, the email made no mention of the serious security lapse that exposed private conversations and numbers to anyone who knew where to look.

It remains unclear when, or if, Neon will return. Apple and Google have not commented on whether the app violated their store policies, though both companies have a history of removing apps with poor security practices. Just last year, several popular apps — including dating services like Bumble and Hinge — were found leaking sensitive data.

For now, Neon’s sudden rise and equally sudden fall highlight just how risky it can be to hand over personal data to little-known apps, especially those promising quick money in exchange for something as sensitive as your private conversations.