{"id":732,"date":"2021-05-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmr.dev\/blog\/?p=732"},"modified":"2022-08-26T14:45:55","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T21:45:55","slug":"tiktok-social-media-or-spyware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/2021\/05\/06\/tiktok-social-media-or-spyware\/","title":{"rendered":"TikTok: Social Media, or Spyware?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TikTok is the most popular growing social media right now by far, surpassing the likes of Reddit, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest and Quora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And it’s much more popular among Gen Zs and Millenials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But TikTok was declared as a security threat and many have growing concerns about the operations of ByteDance as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TikTok Source Code Analyzation <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Obtain TikTok source code<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is the step most people might get stuck on…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Step 2: Spend hours looking through said program for suspicious things<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 3: Share!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beyond initial paranoia, let’s be realistic about what apps collect. Even Google collects IP (and therefore geographic location), and other pieces of personal data:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google might collect far more personal data about its users than you might even realize. The company records every search you perform and every YouTube video you watch<\/a>. Whether you have an iPhone or an Android, Google Maps logs everywhere you go<\/a>, the route you use to get there and how long you stay — even if you never open the app.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So then what are we looking for? How is this different? For one thing, Google, Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter apps don’t collect anywhere near the same amount of data that TikTok does, and they don’t obfuscate and hide their methods sneakily like TikTok. Additionally, TikTok has some weird code in it that no normal social media app should have. Here’s a quick comparison of the APIs TikTok accesses vs the Facebook app:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They both collect data, but TikTok collects more. And needs access to your SMS messages for some reason, even though it doesn’t interact with that…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Below deconstructs more about what the TikTok app can\/does do and why it might do it. Make your own judgement at the end of the day. However, this is all just what’s able to be seen. Note that TikTok has the ability to update their app and add \/ remove code without updating the app through the store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things TikTok Collects<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n