ByteDance and its popular app TikTok have faced intense scrutiny in the US lately, with the Trump administration accusing voicing security concerns about the app. The government shared its fears that the app could collect user data that could then be used by the Chinese government, and told ByteDance to sell its TikTok operations in America. Separately, Trump issued a new executive order that would prevent ByteDance from doing business in the States.
It turns out there is a cause of concern when it comes to user data. TikTok has been collecting sensitive data from Android users up until last November, taking advantage of an Android loophole that other apps use, skirting Google’s privacy rules for Android. It’s not just TikTok at fault for tracking users, as Google had not patched that exploit even though it knew about its existence.
