There has been a lot of fuss about the Chinese app TikTok and its ban in various countries like the US and India. As per the government, TikTok was passing on the customer data back to China without their authorization. TikTok has been constantly denying the allegations ever since and has been trying to put their side in the conversation as well. However, as per the recent leaks about TikTok, it seems that the company was dealing with unethical practices. It was found that TikTok was collecting user device data for months through the Android app, using a technique that Google has prohibited the developers from doing for a long time now.
The technique is prohibited by Google as it cannot be used without the consent of the user. The report was provided by the Wall Street Journal. Although TikTok has not been doing this since November last year, the findings have added to the problem of the platform that it has been facing for a long time now. Due to the very same reason the company is facing a threat of a complete ban in the US. As per the report, TikTok added an unusual layer of encryption to hide the tactic and then took advantage of a security hole to collect the data. The data currently state the problem only for the Android users, however, it might be a possibility that the same problem might also exist for iOS users.
The tactic is currently being associated with advertising goals but the details will be further checked to know the real purpose of such data collection. Google has not yet given any clarification on the same but has been investigating the issue. It is also hoped that Apple would be checking similar things on their end as well to make sure that any such loophole does not exist at their end.