TikTok tracks user data secretly using a method that Google has banned, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal, which concluded that the application avoided privacy protection in the Android operating system from Google in order to collect unique identifiers from millions of mobile devices, which is information that allows The app tracks users' data online without letting them unsubscribe.
This method, which mobile security experts said was concealed by an extra unusual layer of encryption, appears to violate Google's policies that limit how apps track people, and has not been disclosed to TikTok users.
The newspaper's test also showed that TikTok ended this practice in November of last year, after it had continued for 18 months in violating the rules of the Android platform, which marked a policy shift that the newspaper attributes to the increasing political pressure from Washington.
A matter of politics ?!
The addresses could act as a unique identifier for each user's device, making them valuable for both ads and possibly the most invasive forms of tracking.
By 2015, both the (App Store) and (Google Play Store) banned the collection of MAC addresses as a matter of policy, but TikTok was able to obtain the identifier through a vulnerability.
A vulnerability that the application benefited from
In addition, a study cited by the newspaper found that nearly 350 apps within the Google Play Store had taken advantage of the vulnerability for ad targeting purposes.
The results come at a time when Beijing-based parent company TikTok, ByteDance, is under pressure from the White House over concerns that the data the app collects could be used to help the Chinese government track down US government employees.
Tik Tok said: He is not sharing data with the Chinese government and will not do so if asked to do so.
The identifiers collected by Tik Toks, called MAC addresses, are commonly used for advertising purposes.
China ... blackmail and espionage
In turn, the White House indicated: It is concerned that the Chinese government may obtain user data and use it to build detailed files on individuals for extortion or espionage.
The Chinese video app said earlier this year that it collects less personal data than US companies, such as Facebook and Google.
In addition, a company spokesperson said in a statement: We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of the TikTok community, and we constantly update our application to keep pace with evolving security challenges, and the current version of the application does not collect MAC addresses, and we always encourage our users to download the latest version of TikTok, as he put it. .
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