The social network TikTok has been stirring up a lot of passion lately, trying to defy countries where it faces a slow and creeping ban. But what does the Chinese application actually find out about its users and pass on? The mobile application tracks and stores information about other running and installed applications, the location and location of the mobile device, contacts, internet connection or mobile device ID. “This data can be misused to blackmail interested parties and disrupt the security or strategic interests of the Czech Republic,” the head of the NÚKIB communications department, Marek Vala, told Echo24.
According to a 2021 report by the Security Information Service (BIS), the Chinese app is a growing complex intelligence threat. This is also confirmed by the National Office for Cyber and Information Security (NÚKIB), which last year issued a comprehensive document warning of the threats and risks of social networks. According to the NÚKIB report, the interests of the People’s Republic of China are placed above the interests of the app’s users. “Open-source technical analysis and other information point to problematic handling of and access to user data by Bytedance employees in China, despite repeated claims by its representatives that this is not the case,” the analysis reads.
The amount of data and the way it is collected can be used to target cyber attacks on specific individuals. “At the same time, this data can be misused to blackmail interested parties and thus disrupt the security or strategic interests of the Czech Republic. The operator of the TikTok application publicly declares that although the data of European users is stored in the United States of America and Singapore, some other countries have also been granted remote access to it entities based in Brazil, the People’s Republic of China, Malaysia or the Philippines,” NÚKIB writes in the warning report.
The main data that TikTok detects and stores about its users includes, for example, device mapping of other running and installed applications or storing the content of private communications on ByteDance’s servers. At the same time, the application performs a regular location check, has access to the user’s contacts, enforces the use of a native browser, which allows monitoring almost all user activity (e.g. key presses on the screen, etc.) or has permanent access to the calendar, which can be read and potentially interfere with it.
The Chinese network also registers and stores information about the IP address, screen resolution, or names of apps and files on the phone. But potentially the biggest danger is the fact that the application checks everything the user has ever typed on the keyboard. It’s not just what he wrote while using TikTok. The application records all activity on the keyboard, such as chats, writing messages, searching in the Internet browser, etc. This type of information is apparently used primarily for targeted advertising, but it can also be misused to search for news-related information.
The authority also warns that TikTok has information about your SIM card and Wi-Fi connection. In addition, it stores previous Internet configurations, maps your Wi-Fi connection, and data regarding the serial numbers of your mobile device and SIM cards, including those you no longer use. The application also records your device ID (mobile phone, computer, tablet, etc.), phone number, list of user accounts used on that device, and keyboard operations.
The amount of data and the way it is collected can serve to target cyber-attacks at specific individuals and thereby increase the risk of their success. “The authority recommends all persons whose data could be the target of activities of foreign intelligence services (so-called persons of interest who are, for example, in high political, public or decision-making positions, etc.) to consider limiting or completely banning the installation and use of the TikTok application i on their personal devices,” informs NÚKIB.
Tags: data TikTok send China Chinese application tracks movement contacts communication
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