Australian lawmakers and their staff have been advised to get two phones to keep work and private information separate, amid widespread security concerns over TikTok.
The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), an intelligence and cybersecurity agency, has warned members of parliament in private briefings recently that some social media apps are over-collecting data and constantly demanding access to users’ contacts, locations, and other apps on the device, according to Australian Financial Review.
While ASD didn’t give any social media names, a white paper on TikTok investigations published in July by Internet 2.0, an Australian cybersecurity firm, reported that TikTok tracked GPS location on Android devices at least once an hour and kept asking for contact information until it was granted, after users had initially denied access to their contacts….