Does TikTok spy on you?

Its hard these days to go anywhere in person or online and not hear or see a mention of the incredibly popular social media platform tik tok. In recent years however there have been numerous privacy concerns about the app and even allegations that it spies on users and sends their data to the Chinese government, but is any of this true and is tik tok really spying on you? Lets have a look.

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Lets start with what data tik tok collects about you.

If you've installed the app it can determine your location, your unique IP address, in app search history and what content your watching and for how long. This data is used to build a profile about you and cookies are also installed on your device that allow it to track your activity all over the internet, continuously learning more about in order to send you more relevant ads that you're more likely to interact with. If this sounds sinister already you might be shocked to learn this is pretty much standard for most social media sites you use, you have agreed to this in those terms and conditions that we definitely all read in full.

So if this is standard why are people so worried about tik tok? Well tik tok has a few other security concerns that other social media platforms don't have. When you copy something on your device such as a piece of text or a photo a friend sent you, before you paste it, it is known as being stored in the "clipboard". The tik tok app has access to your clipboard, meaning if you've just copied a message a friend sent you in another app and are now using tik tok, tik tok have access to this message and the information can be used by them in anyway they see fit.

Another potential security threat in tik tok is in the in app browser. When you click an ad or a link to an external site in the tik tok app it opens in tik toks in app browser rather than your phones normal browser. Tik tok is able to see all keystrokes that are used when in this in app browser. So if you enter personal information or bank details to buy something, all of this is visible to tik tok. To be transparent, a lot of other social media platforms are able to see your keystrokes in their own in app browser but tik tok is the only one that doesn't provide the option to open things in your phones default browser meaning you have no choice but to use their in app one where your keystrokes are visible to tik tok.

So now we know data tik tok can collect from us, is it spying on people?
The company that own tik tok are called byte dance. In 2021 the Chinese government purchased a 1% stake in byte dance. While byte dance maintain that user data is only used as stated in the terms and conditions, the fact the Chinese government own a stake of byte dance who have all the previously mentioned information about you makes some people uneasy and has caused widespread criticism. To be clear there has currently been no evidence that users data has been passed to the Chinese government however the US government have already stopped tik tok from being downloaded on government devices citing security concerns.

So if byte dance are to be believed, no tik tok aren't spying on you. Whether or not you believe them that they manage your data in an ethical way is up to you.

Will any of this information make you think twice before using tik tok or do you think there's nothing to worry about?

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