Alibaba-linked mobile game comes under fire for ‘leaking’ 36,000 private user videos

The Chinese developers of a smartphone-based charades game came under fire after being caught having released some 36,000 private videos that users thought would only be shared to their friends.

The game, Fengkuang Laiwang (or Crazy Laiwang), co-developed with Alibaba’s Laiwang unit, is based on charades and allows users to record themselves miming or attempting to guess what the others are expressing.

The guesser must hold up a mobile device to display a word, which the opponent must then translate into gestures. Users could share the videos with select friends.

But gamers were stunned to learn that the game automatically uploaded their videos – many showing users naked or in their underwear – to Crazy Laiwang‘s account on video-sharing website Youku.com and making them public.

As of earlier this week, there were 35,959 clips stored under the account, according to The Beijing News. Altogether, the movie clips have received for almost three million views, with the oldest clip uploaded four months ago.

The game is one of two recommended on Laiwang, a WeChat-like messaging platform launched by Alibaba Group Holding about a year ago. It is sold on both Apple and Android stores.