RIM Revealing Private Blackberry Email Addresses and More
 

Just discovered that the new Blackberry OS software Verizon released for the 8703e (few weeks ago) has a dark side. RIM’s mail server is sending back receipts to people sending me email with my BB’s private email account embedded within as an attachment. To make things worse, RIM is impersonating my email account for sending the receipts, rather than sending from an administrator’s alias. Even worse, is that the receipts are coming going back from my main email address, even though I have multiple email accounts linked to the BB. Email senders requesting receipts to any of my private email accounts are being provided with my name, private BB email address, and main email address, regardless of which email account to which they were addressing. All of a sudden, RIM is pushing out a lot of private info they have no business revealing.

But there’s a flip side. The Blackberry is also requesting receipts, so I was inundated with receipts when I sent my first test messages checking out the multimedia capabilities that were added to email. The multimedia upgrade came at quite a cost.

What is all that? Turn off your read receipts option in messages. i don't know what to recommend for the paranoia.

There’s another dimension to the private info dump in which RIM’s server is currently involved. If you have multiple email accounts set to forward email to your BB (for push email), you have a potential for serious identity issues. The 8703e periodically compromises your identity when you reply to any email in the “messages” applet (i.e. an email to a private email account ends up being sent from your main email account, etc.). Now when you are using email forwarding to get push email on multiple email accounts, each sender will learn of your other identities. If you disable all email forwarding, you lose push email, which is the main advantage for using this device instead of, for example, a Treo.

You going to turn everyone ELSE's receipts off? Anyone who writes to you with receipt request on will get your private info. You have no control over it.

Only if you set up your BB and BIS incorrectly, which you obviously have.

Oh, you're real clever. BB set up exactly as RIM suggested, and I'm not using BIS.

So what are you using?

Indeed what is the OP using
?

Just plain internet-only service with 5 email accounts configured. I had two email accounts forwarding to my private BB email address for push email, but had to discontinue forwarding until this issue is resolved.

Which, sir, is called BIS = BlackBerry Internet Service.

I think you need to some assistance with your setup, and a better understanding.

And perhaps a more open attitude

JSanders, please help OP with his problem. this is scary to to me and others reading if they go with VZWireless OS 4.2.

It's not a problem. There is an option to send a read receipt. The OP obviously has it on.

PS, OP is saying senders are requesting receipts.

There are options for both Confirming Read and Sending Read Receipts. If I understand the rant correctly, both options are on in this case; so incoming mail is returning a Confirmation on reading, and sent messages are requesting a receipt. Since the OP is sending messages to his/her own device, it's going both ways.

Sorry, read it too quick, thought I read "BES".

I thought it was odd that I got back a receipt from someone else last week with his private BB address (even though I didn't have his name), now it's not so unexpected.

And, no, I don't need assistance with my setup. It's been configured exactly as specified by RIM, and working exactly the way it should. However, I just did a little more testing and also have the solution.

Seems that the OS upgrade added some new email options we didn't have before. After the upgrade, RIM set the "confirm delivery" option on for all of my email accounts within the BB (messages-options-email settings). Although this is set within the device, it sets server-side options to send confirmations. Obviously it's a brain-dead decision to set this on for an email account that's intended to be private, and a rude surprise that RIM enabled it without warning.

I turned all receipts off for all accounts and everything's quiet now. Just for good measure, on one account I turned on all-singing delivery and read receipts and had receipts flying all over the place, but without revealing my private BB email address. Turned them off for that account and it's working the way it should.

The identity dump I observed earlier was RIM pre-setting my delivery receipt preference on the private BB email account, which then dumped the private email account identity to the sender who addressed a non-primary email address that was forwarded for push email.

For anyone else now joining this discussion, the recent 8703e OS upgrade requires that you review your email options within the device to confirm whether or not you want to be responding to any receipt requests. Obviously, most people will opt to turn them all off for the private email account, but, naturally, everyone's preferences are different.

Storm, understood. thanks. OP hope you're reading this. good luck.

Great idea to turn off those read receipts.

If I recall correctly, I believe some of those receipt options appeared in the BIS 2.3 upgrade early summer '07.

Was it then or Handheld 4.2.1? All these updates just run together now!:razz:

Well, in this case it's not a rant. It's a complaint that RIM has been irresponsible to distribute new intrusive features and turn some of them on without warning. Didn't have receipt options in the device before, now I do. It's one of many rude surprises, like the disappearing message account icons that RIM won't fix (or maybe this OS release might?).