{"id":64810,"date":"2022-10-21T05:01:46","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T05:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/10\/21\/tiktok-denies-it-could-be-used-to-track-us-citizens\/"},"modified":"2022-10-21T05:01:46","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T05:01:46","slug":"tiktok-denies-it-could-be-used-to-track-us-citizens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/10\/21\/tiktok-denies-it-could-be-used-to-track-us-citizens\/","title":{"rendered":"TikTok denies it could be used to track US citizens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TikTok has denied a report that a China-based team at its parent company ByteDance planned to use the app to track US citizens’ locations.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This was announced by the social media giant on Twitter<\/a> that it was never used to “target” the American government, activists, public figures, or journalists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The company also says it doesn’t collect accurate location data from US users.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It was responding to a report in Forbes that data had been accessed without users’ knowledge or consent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The US business magazine reported, citing documents viewed, that ByteDance had started a monitoring project to investigate misconduct by current and former employees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It said the project, led by a Beijing-based team, planned to collect location data from a US citizen on at least two occasions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The report said it was unclear if data was ever collected from American citizens, but that there was a plan to obtain location data from US users’ devices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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  • TikTok bans kids from live streaming<\/li>\n
  • Why people post their salaries on TikTok<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    In a series of tweets, TikTok’s communications team said the report lacked “both rigor and journalistic integrity.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    It added that “Forbes chose not to include the part of our statement that refutes the feasibility of its core claim: TikTok does not collect accurate GPS location information from US users, meaning TikTok could not monitor US users in this way.” , as the article suggested.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    In response to a BBC request for comment, a Forbes spokesman said: “We are confident in our sourcing and stand by our reporting.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    App developers have come under scrutiny from authorities around the world, particularly over data from military and intelligence officials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    In 2020, a US national security body ordered ByteDance to sell TikTok’s American business amid concerns that user data could be leaked to the Chinese government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    TikTok announced that it migrated US users’ information to Austin-headquartered Oracle servers in June this year to resolve some regulatory issues. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Meanwhile, in the UK, TikTok faces a \u00a327million ($30million) fine for failing to protect the privacy of children using the platform.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Last month, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office found that the video platform may have processed the data of under-13s without proper consent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    The regulator said the breach spanned more than two years — to July 2020 — but has yet to come to any definitive conclusions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Tiktok has disputed the results, saying they are “preliminary”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    TikTok is the fastest growing social media app in the world and has been downloaded more than 3.9 billion times. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    According to analytics firm Sensor Tower, the company has generated more than $6.2bn (\u00a35.5bn) in gross revenue from in-app spend since its launch in 2017.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n