TikTok is under scrutiny by the U.S. government in light of national security concerns. An expert pointed out that the content hidden in TikTok’s terms of use and privacy policy is very concerning, that users who install the app voluntarily reveal everything about themselves and the information of those around them.
“The cyber system in today’s world is so complex that people can use them for a variety of purposes,” Peter Hish, a sergeant with the Los Angeles County’s Sheriff Fraud and Cyber Crimes Bureau, told The Epoch Times on June 9.
For example, when people install an app, they need to click “I read and agree to the terms and conditions” to use it.
What TikTok Users Agree to
Owned by China’s ByteDance, TikTok has 150 million users in the United States, primarily teenagers. Its privacy policy says, “TikTok may transmit your data to its servers or data centers outside of the United States for storage and/or processing.”
“So you take a picture of yourself and video [of yourself] doing this and doing that. TikTok decides they want to use it on commercials or other ads or sell it; they can do that,” he said.
Second, TikTok users agree to the company’s collection of all information on their own devices and those of others.
“If I have TikTok on this phone and I log on to the Wi-Fi here, TikTok is going to use my phone to probe every other device that’s logged onto that Wi-Fi on this network, even [if] those devices don’t have TikTok on it,” he explained. “My TikTok on my phone is going to go and utilize that Wi-Fi to probe and get as much information they can from all of the other devices.”
“We collect certain information about the device you use to access the Platform, such as your IP address, user agent, mobile carrier, time zone settings, identifiers for advertising purposes, model of your device, the device system, network type, device IDs, your screen resolution and operating system, app and file names and types, keystroke patterns or rhythms, battery state, audio settings and connected audio devices.
“We automatically assign you a device ID and user ID. Where you log-in from multiple devices, we will be able to use information such as your device ID and user ID to identify your activity across devices. We may also associate you with information collected from devices other than those you use to log-in to the Platform.”
Third, Hish said that when users agree to TikTok’s terms, they allow the app to monitor all the “keystrokes” recorded on their phones.
TikTok Controlled by CCP
TikTok’s terms of use and privacy policy are much more than the above, the sergeant said.
The terms also state that TikTok collects personal information such as name, age, username, password, language, email, phone number, social media account information, and profile image provided by the user. It collects information about the user’s activity on other websites and applications or program stores. It collects purchase information, purchase history, shipping address, payment card number, and other third-party payment information (such as PayPal).
It’s worth noting that TikTok may use the users’ image and audio information to “enable special video effects, for content moderation, for demographic classification, for content and ad recommendations, and for other non-personally-identifying operations.”
“We may collect biometric identifiers and biometric information as defined under U.S. laws, such as faceprints and voiceprints, from your User Content,” reads the Privacy Policy.
“Another thing about TikTok, who controls TikTok? The Chinese Communist Party controls TikTok. So where’s all your data going? The CCP. You want the CCP having knowing everything that you do? I don’t,” Hish said.
He also suggested that parents shouldn’t let their children use TikTok and that it’s best not to allow outsiders to use their Wi-Fi.
