Chinese-backed social media giant TikTok has been accused of “excessive data harvesting” by cybersecurity firm Internet 2.0.
In a new report, the Australian-based firm found the popular music video app tracked the location of users every hour, accessed calendars and contacts, and also conducted “device mapping”—tracking what other apps were installed on a person’s phone.
“TikTok has access to contacts, and if the user denies access, it continuously requests for access until the user gives access,” the report stated.
“The application retrieves all other running applications on the phone. TikTok also gathers all applications that are installed on the phone. In theory, this information can provide a realistic diagram of your phone.”…