Is it time to delete TikTok? A guide to the rumors and the real privacy risks.
Its U.S. privacy policy also says it gathers your country location, Internet address and the type of device you’re using. If you give it permission, it will also grab your exact location, your phone’s contacts and other social network connections, as well as your age and phone number.
TikTok: What is the app and how much data does it collect?
Some of the app's data collection has raised eyebrows, including the recent revelation that it was regularly reading the copy-and-paste clipboards of users.
But this was also found to be the case for dozens of other apps including Reddit, LinkedIn, the New York Times and the BBC News app.
Much of TikTok's data collection is comparable to other data-hungry social networks such as Facebook. However, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office - a privacy watchdog - is currently investigating the app.
Redditor who reverse-engineered the TikTok app claims it's a huge data collection scheme
If there’s one lesson to learn here, it’s that TikTok and the larger tech world are in dire need of increased transparency.
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