TikTok stalks its users more than the 9 other largest social networks in the world, according to a study released in late January by mobile marketing company URL Genius.
TikTok more opaque than other social networks?
According to the conclusions of this study, TikTok is not alone in tracking its users, with YouTube, the application shares the score of 14 trackers activated on iOS, the mobile operating system studied by URL Genius. On average, other social networks have 6.
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TikTok and YouTube neck and neck! Credit: URL Genius
The TikTok case is more problematic than YouTube, as most trackers are for third parties. On YouTube, the majority, 10, is intended for Google, for the purposes of the operation of the service: tracking of search history, location, etc. For TikTok 13 are for third parties. In this situation, it is not possible to know for whom the information is collected nor to know the nature of the data sent.
The study relied on a feature of iOS 15.2. It records application activity whether the user has Apple’s privacy feature enabled or not. Overall URL Genius notes that ” The findings raise important questions about the fit between consumer perceptions and the potential behavioral tracking that still takes place when tracking permission is not granted. “.
The TikTok case, poorly placed in the social network category, is more in line with the average practices observed by URL Genius on 200 applications: 15 trackers, 12 of which are intended for third parties. However, Wired notes that like Google, the ByteDance service practices “demographic inference”, it deduces the personal characteristics of its users thanks to their IP, their search history, the videos watched, etc.
Context doesn’t favor ByteDance’s service
As soon as it comes to the Chinese application, questionable user tracking practices quickly tense. In addition to the young age of its regulars, TikTok has been suspected since its explosion of transmitting data to China. In September 2021, the Irish Data Protection Authority opened an ongoing investigation into this matter.
The issue is even more sensitive in the United States. The Trump administration attempted in 2020 to shut down TikTok or coerce ByteDance into reselling it to an American company. Microsoft and Oracle had shown interest. American justice had ruled the decree issued by the American president inapplicable. His successor, Joe Biden, had decided not to appeal, but asked for a review of the application.
the wall street journal reported in early February that the Commerce Department may soon change the regulations. The aim would be to constrain foreign applications that can be used by “ foreign adversaries to steal or otherwise obtain data to a much stricter control of its practices.
TikTok has always denied passing data to the Chinese government. As the URL Genius study shows, other services have practices that query, often for commercial purposes. It would not be so surprising if this is also the case with the service of ByteDance. Nevertheless, given its country of origin, TikTok should expect a much stricter control of its behavior to follow Internet users.