TikTok Can Sidestep Apple And Google Privacy Protections, Giving China-Based Parent Company Full Access To User Data: Report
According to an exclusive report from TheWrap, the Chinese-based app TikTok is side-stepping Apple and Google privacy protections to provide the company’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, full access to user data.
“The studies, conducted by ‘white hat’ cybersecurity experts that hack for the public good, were completed in November 2020 and January 2021,” TheWrap reported, noting that the outlet had “verified the studies and confirmed their conclusions with five independent experts.”
“The summaries of the studies, shared exclusively with TheWrap, suggest that TikTok is able to avoid code audits on the Apple and Google app stores,” the report continued. “More alarmingly, the research found that TikTok is capable of changing the app’s behavior as it pleases without users’ knowledge and utilizes device tracking that essentially gives the company and third parties an all-access pass to user data.”