Bluesky Launches Privacy-Focused 'Find Friends' Feature

Bluesky Introduces Privacy-Focused Friend Discovery

Bluesky, a social networking platform positioned as a competitor to X and Threads, has unveiled a new feature designed to help users connect with friends. The company announced on Wednesday that this functionality prioritizes user privacy.

How the Feature Works

The friend-finding capability operates by matching users with contacts already saved within their phone’s address book. However, a crucial element is that participation is entirely opt-in; both individuals must actively consent to be matched.

“Historically, importing contacts has proven to be the most efficient method for locating known individuals on social applications, yet it has frequently been implemented poorly or exploited by various platforms,” Bluesky explained in their official announcement.

Addressing Privacy Concerns

The company highlighted past issues with contact data, including leaks, unauthorized sales to spammers, and questionable usage by platforms, even when encryption was employed. Bluesky asserts they have developed a significantly more secure system to safeguard user data.

Previously, many social apps leveraged contact matching as a means of generating leads. If an app identified friends of a user who weren't already on the platform, it would suggest adding them, often sending unsolicited text message invitations.

While this tactic has often proven effective in driving initial app downloads and achieving viral growth, it doesn’t necessarily translate into long-term user retention.

Bluesky’s Approach to Invitations

Bluesky distinguishes itself by explicitly stating it will not send automated invitations to contacts, even after a user uploads their address book.

Instead, users can manually send invitations to specific friends. It’s important to note that, as these are personal messages, recipients cannot opt out of receiving them.

Verification and Security Measures

To utilize the Find Friends feature, users must first verify their phone number by entering a six-digit code received via SMS. This step is designed to prevent malicious actors from uploading random numbers to gather information about Bluesky users.

The company notes that matching contacts may not be instantaneous, and the number of visible matches will increase as more users upload their contact lists.

Successful matching requires reciprocal inclusion; both users must have each other’s contact information stored in their respective address books.

User Control and Data Handling

Users who prefer not to be discovered by contacts can simply choose not to use the feature.

Bluesky explains that uploaded contact information is stored as hashed pairs, combining each user’s number with those of their contacts. This process is intended to make data reconstruction more difficult.

Furthermore, the data’s encryption is linked to a hardware key stored separately from the Bluesky database. Users have the ability to delete their uploaded contacts and opt out, removing their data from the system.

Technical details of the system have been publicly released as an RFC to encourage feedback from the security community prior to launch.

Availability

The new feature is currently being rolled out to Bluesky users in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the U.K., and the United States.