Published: August 13, 2024

TikTok clones your phone and steals your data

By Movieguide® Contributor

The Capitol’s Office of Cybersecurity ordered all employees last month to delete all ByteDance products from their devices, and USA Today cybersecurity expert Kim Komando says you should do the same.

Komando reported on August 8: “If you think the ByteDance paranoia is overblown, here is the laundry list Data you reveal every time you scroll through TikTok: your name, age, username, email address, password, phone number, and location. Your IP address, mobile carrier, time zone, device model, and the operating system you use.”

Other data the app collects includes biometric data, facial recognition and voiceprints, message content, purchase information, and activity on other websites, stores, or apps. File names and types, keyboard input patterns, most frequently visited web pages, and connected elements are also at risk. The app records objects and scenes that appear in videos viewed, such as tourist attractions or stores.

Movieguide® reported on August 1st:

The New York Post wrote on July 30: “ByteDance products will be blocked and removed from House-managed devices, starting with mobile devices. If you have a ByteDance application on your House-managed mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it,” the notice to employees said.

“Tuesday’s message to House offices increases pressure on members and staff who may still be using ByteDance apps. In addition to TikTok, it also includes the popular video editing app CapCut, which can be used to edit Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts,” Roll Call reported.

“The amount of data TikTok collects is so large that it can come dangerously close to cloning your entire phone,” Komando said.

But ByteDance is not the only Chinese company that stores vast amounts of personal data.

“Temu’s slogan – ‘Shop like a billionaire’ – refers to its very low prices on everything from clothing to home goods to electronics. Although the company is based in the U.S., Temu is owned by PDD Holdings, which is based in China. And that company also owns Pinduoduo, which was removed from the Google Play Store because it contained malware,” according to USA Today.

Temu can track activity in other apps, track notifications, read private messages, and change settings. With additional options enabled, it can also see contacts, calendars, photos, social media accounts, and texts.

The company is notorious for its insecure payment system that shares, stores or sells payment information to fraudulent parties, leading to mysterious fraud allegations for its customers.

Customer service is also unresponsive and users often have problems with orders.

“They make delivery promises, and people don’t get their stuff at the agreed time,” Melanie McGovern, the BBB’s director of public relations and social media, told TIME in 2022.

Security.org added that it shares “an incredible amount of your data and information.”

USA Today’s cybersecurity expert advises deleting any ByteDance or Temu apps.

If you must use TikTok, she recommends that users install it on an old device that is not linked to personal information such as messages, emails or banking details.

And don’t use it on your own Wi-Fi network. Buy a cheap data plan or use a guest network.

Then “ask yourself if those videos, photo editing tools and cheap goods are really worth all the hassle,” Komando advises.

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