A stranger tried to send you a photo over nearby sharing

You’re on a train, in a waiting room or at a concert, and your phone lights up: someone nearby wants to share a photo with you. You don’t recognize the name. Sometimes it’s a mistake, a person aiming for their friend. Sometimes it’s a deliberate attempt to send an explicit or upsetting picture to a stranger, because the sender can’t be easily identified. Either way, you’re in control, and it takes a few seconds to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

What to do now

1. Decline. Tap Decline on the request. Nothing is saved unless you accept. Don’t accept to see what it is.

2. Turn off receiving from strangers. On iPhone, open Control Center, touch and hold the top-left group of controls, tap the nearby sharing icon and choose Contacts Only or Receiving Off. On Android, open the nearby sharing settings (search for it in Settings), tap Who can share with you, and choose Contacts or Your devices.

3. If you feel unsafe, move. Go somewhere with staff or other people around. The sender is probably within a few steps of you.

4. Note what you can. The time, the place, the device name shown in the request, and what you saw. If you’re on public transport, the line and carriage help.

5. Report it if you want to. Tell staff, transport police or the venue. Many transport networks have a text number for reporting harassment.

Why it happened

Both iPhone and Android let you receive from everyone for 10 minutes, so a friend who isn’t in your contacts can send you something. After those 10 minutes, both switch back on their own. If you’re still getting requests, it’s likely your phone was set to everyone shortly before, or your phone is set to receive from contacts and the sender is in them. On Android, the Receive screen in the feature also makes you visible to anyone nearby while you’re on it.

What doesn’t help

• Accepting to check it. You only add the picture to your phone.
• Replying or looking around for the sender. It gives them the reaction they want and can escalate.
• Turning Bluetooth off for good. Changing who can share with you is enough, and keeps your earbuds and watch working.

Check your device name

While your phone was visible, nearby people could see its name. If it’s your full name, change it: on iPhone in Settings, then General, then About, then Name; on Android in Settings, then About phone, then Device name.

For a full walk-through of the options on each phone, see nearby sharing: the privacy settings to check.

If you accepted by accident

The picture is now on your phone, probably in your downloads or gallery, and may be included in your photo backup. Delete it, then delete it from the deleted folder too. If you want to keep it as evidence instead, see keeping evidence of harassment. Keeping it out of your main gallery stops it turning up in memories or slideshows.

Where a vault helps

A vault doesn’t stop requests, but it’s a sensible place for anything you need to keep and don’t want to see by accident. Silo, coming soon to iPhone and Android, can import a photo, check the encrypted copy and then offer to remove the original from your gallery, so it no longer appears in memories or your photo backup.