Prime Highlights

• Bluesky has introduced a friend-finding feature that matches users via phone contacts, ensuring privacy by requiring mutual opt-in.
• The platform avoids automated invites and gives users control over outreach, preventing unwanted messages and protecting personal data.

Key Facts

• Users must verify their phone numbers via SMS before uploading contacts, and matches only appear if both users have saved each other’s numbers and opted in.
• Contact information is stored in encrypted, hashed pairs with separate encryption keys, and users can delete uploaded contacts or opt out at any time.

Background

Bluesky, the social media platform, has launched a new friend-finding feature that it says puts user privacy first. The company announced on Wednesday that the feature allows users to find people they know by matching contacts from their phone address book, but only if both users choose to opt in.

The company said contact importing has long helped people connect on social platforms, but past implementations often misused personal data. Phone numbers were sometimes leaked, sold to spammers, or used for aggressive growth tactics. Bluesky said it designed a more secure system to avoid these risks.

Unlike many social apps, Bluesky said it will not send automated invitations to contacts who are not already on the platform. Instead, users can choose to send a manual invite to a friend. The company said this approach avoids unwanted text messages and gives users more control over their outreach.

Users must first verify their phone number by entering a six-digit code sent by SMS. This step helps prevent misuse, such as uploading random numbers to search for users. After verification, users can upload their contacts for matching.

Bluesky said matches will only appear when both people have saved each other’s phone numbers and have opted into the feature. Early users may see fewer matches at first, but results should improve as more users upload their contact lists.

For users who prefer to stay private or separate their online and offline lives, the feature remains optional. Those who do not opt in cannot be found through contact matching.

The company said it stores contact information in encrypted, hashed pairs, making the data difficult to reverse engineer. The encryption keys are stored separately from the main database. Users can also delete uploaded contacts and opt out at any time.

The feature is rolling out in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.