Australians are being warned to delete TikTok from their phone after a new report by cyber security experts discovered that sensitive information is being sent back to China.
Security firm Internet 2.0 cracked the source code for the popular video sharing platform downloaded by more than 7.5million Aussies to uncover how an array of data is being targeted without the user being aware.
The Beijing backed app taps into smartphone calendars, contacts list and scans the device’s ID and hard drive to monitor all other apps that have been installed.
TikTok also checks the device’s location at least once an hour and will persist in seeking data from contacts even if permission is denied, according to the report.
Mainly used by young people under the age of 18, the platform which beat out Google to become the globe’s most popular website in 2021, largely consists of short dance videos and is widely viewed as harmless.
But with the communist superpower a world leader in data collection, AI and facial recognition software, there are fears TikTok is being used by Beijing to spy on young people in the west.
Robert Potter Internet 2.0 CEO accused TikTok and its parent company ByteDance of being deceptive.
However, Mr Potter said his team had identified that on Apple smartphones the app was connecting with servers in China, however they could not say what information was being sent.
‘There was significant amounts of traffic flows to servers in China,’ he said.
In the report, that has been circulated to Australian and US politicians, Internet 2.0 said TikTok was not transparent about the data it requested and where it went.
‘The China server connection is run by Guizhou Baishan Cloud Technology, a cloud and cybersecurity company. ‘The subdomain connected to the China server connection resolved in multiple locations around the world including in China.’
‘The aspect we list as excessive is TikTok doesn’t just retrieve the ability to see folders, it retrieves a list of everything available in the external storage folder.’
‘The TikTok mobile application has been built with a culture that does not place privacy as a principle as most of the permissions and device information being collected are above necessary for the application to function,’ the report said.
Mr Potter pointed out that as the company was based in China it is governed by Chinese laws and would be forced to hand over any data requested by the Communist Party. ‘Because it is domiciled and is a Chinese company its governed by Chinese law first, which means it operates in a very different privacy culture,’ he said. Under Chinese law organisations and individuals are required to ‘support, assist and co-operate with the state intelligence work’.
Information sharing with TikTok can be limited through phone settings and is more restricted on PCs. However, some experts say the only the sure way to stop the app collecting data is to get rid off it.
