Tik Tok is sophisticated spyware that can circumvent a smartphone’s security (usually with the unwitting consent of the user, who quickly taps “agree” to the software agreement) gather data, send it back to the developer, who can then share it with whomever, including other governments (Tik Tok is owned by a Chinese company).
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/22/tiktok-bytedance-workers-fired-data-access-journalists
TikTok admits using its app to spy on reporters in effort to track leaks
TikTok has admitted that it used its own app to spy on reporters as part of an attempt to track down the journalists’ sources, according to an internal email.
The data was accessed by employees of ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company and was used to track the reporters’ physical movements. The company’s chief internal auditor Chris Lepitak, who led the team involved in the operation, has been fired, while his China-based manager Song Ye has resigned.
They looked at IP addresses of journalists who were using the TikTok app in an attempt to learn if they were in the same location as employees suspected of leaking confidential information. The effort, which targeted former BuzzFeed reporter Emily Baker-White and Financial Times reporter Cristina Criddle among other reporters, was unsuccessful, but resulted in at least four members of staff based in both the US and China improperly accessing the data, according to an email from ByteDance general counsel Erich Andersen. All four have been fired. Company officials said they were taking additional steps to protect user data.
That’s why governments around the world are banning the app from government devices.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cse-tik-tok-china-1.6720793
The man who oversees cybersecurity for the federal government says Canadians should be wary of apps that could leave their data in the "wrong hands" — a warning that comes as the wildly popular Chinese-owned social media app TikTok faces claims that it has spied on its users.
Sami Khoury, head of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, said users need to be aware of what they're agreeing to when they download an app, and should ask whether it enables access to their personal data.
"You have to ask yourself the question, do they need to access that information? Why does an application need to access all of my contact list? Why does it need to access my calendar, my email, my phone records, my [texts]?" he told CBC News.
Meanwhile some users think they are simply making cool videos that could vault them to influencer status, while many other users use the app to simply watch videos, blissfully unaware of the risks to their private information.
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