{"id":32281,"date":"2022-07-23T11:22:57","date_gmt":"2022-07-23T11:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/?p=32281"},"modified":"2022-07-23T11:22:58","modified_gmt":"2022-07-23T11:22:58","slug":"is-tiktok-a-spy-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/is-tiktok-a-spy-app","title":{"rendered":"Is TikTok a Spy App?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_43 counter-flat ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69f8e11783a96\" class=\"cssicon\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/label><label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69f8e11783a96\"  class=\"cssiconcheckbox\">1<\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69f8e11783a96\" ><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/is-tiktok-a-spy-app\/#Is_TikTok_a_Spy_App\" title=\"Is TikTok a Spy App?\">Is TikTok a Spy App?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/is-tiktok-a-spy-app\/#TikTok_collects_search_and_browsing_history\" title=\"TikTok collects search and browsing history\">TikTok collects search and browsing history<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/is-tiktok-a-spy-app\/#Text\" title=\"Text\">Text<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/is-tiktok-a-spy-app\/#Location\" title=\"Location\">Location<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/is-tiktok-a-spy-app\/#Photos\" title=\"Photos\">Photos<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/is-tiktok-a-spy-app\/#Facial_ID\" title=\"Facial ID\">Facial ID<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/is-tiktok-a-spy-app\/#Private_messages\" title=\"Private messages\">Private messages<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/is-tiktok-a-spy-app\/#Location_data\" title=\"Location data\">Location data<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_TikTok_a_Spy_App\"><\/span>Is TikTok a Spy App?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/bEDzxbm.jpg\" align=\"right\" alt=\"Is TikTok a spying app\" style=\"margin:0px 10px; height:auto; max-height:395px; max-width:43% width:auto;\">  <\/p>\n<p>So what exactly is TikTok doing with your privacy? Well, it&#8217;s collecting your search and browsing history. But what else can it collect? Photos, text messages, and even location data? Keep reading to find out. After all, the app is widely used in China and is very unlikely to be a spying app. Here are a few things to look out for. So how does TikTok collect this data?<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"TikTok_collects_search_and_browsing_history\"><\/span>TikTok collects search and browsing history<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Like Facebook, Google, and other U.S. tech companies, TikTok collects users&#8217; browsing and search history. It has also been accused of collecting users&#8217; voiceprints, biometric identifiers, and keystroke patterns. The data collection practices have been a source of concern for cybersecurity researchers and the American Civil Liberties Union. But what does TikTok do with all that information?<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Text\"><\/span>Text<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Recently, a Republican Federal Communications Commission commissioner, Brendan Carr, called on Apple and Alphabet to remove TikTok from the app stores. He said that the app is not just another video-sharing app, but a spying app that collects sensitive data on its users. According to Carr, TikTok is collecting browsing and search histories, as well as voiceprints and faceprints. He requested that the app be removed from Apple and Google&#8217;s app stores, but pointed out that the FCC doesn&#8217;t have the authority to do so.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Location\"><\/span>Location<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Location tracking with TikTok isn&#8217;t new. Facebook&#8217;s recently leaked data has already made this practice possible. However, the extra spice is in TikTok&#8217;s case, as the platform has also been targeted by the U.S. government as part of a campaign against TikTok parent ByteDance. It was alleged that users were risking their data being spirited back to China by providing this information to the company.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photos\"><\/span>Photos<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The question of whether Photos on TikTok are spying apps is not new. Many social media sites gather data on the user, including location, internet address, device type, and contact information. Besides this, some of these sites also gather data on social network connections and age. The United States government has expressed explicit concerns about TikTok&#8217;s use as a spying app, but has provided no proof. Experts, however, say that TikTok collects user data similarly to other popular social media apps.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Facial_ID\"><\/span>Facial ID<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A recent privacy debate has centered on TikTok&#8217;s use of facial recognition technology. While this type of technology is useful for many purposes, it has been criticized for collecting biometric data of users. In addition, some users are concerned that the company may use the data to track them or share them with third parties without their consent. If you&#8217;re concerned about TikTok&#8217;s use of facial ID, keep reading for more information.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Private_messages\"><\/span>Private messages<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You can send private messages on TikTok to other users. You must follow the account of the person you want to send a private message to. Once you&#8217;ve done this, you can use the inbox icon to send a private message to that person. First, open the TikTok application on your computer. Next, tap the three dots icon at the top right of the screen to open the Settings menu. From here, select the Messages option. From there, tap on the Phone number and enter the message.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Location_data\"><\/span>Location data<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In an effort to better understand the interests of its users, TikTok tracks location data, including your IP address and country. It also collects technical information from your phone, such as time zone settings, Internet connection, and browsing history. All of this information is used to build a profile of you, which is then used to better target advertisements and understand your preferences. Here are a few things you should know about TikTok&#8217;s location data.<\/p>\n<p> <iframe width=\"533\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8U12nZQBKck\" height=\"298\" style=\"margin:0px auto; display: block;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is TikTok a Spy App? So what exactly is TikTok doing with your privacy? Well, it&#8217;s collecting your search and browsing history. But what else can it collect? Photos, text messages, and even location data? Keep reading to find out. After all, the app is widely used in China and is very unlikely to be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[321],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v21.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is TikTok a Spy App? - Zeru<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/is-tiktok-a-spy-app\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is TikTok a Spy App?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is TikTok a Spy App? So what exactly is TikTok doing with your privacy? 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