Cybersecurity company Feroot Security released a new report last week claiming TikTok can mine data and track people even if they have never used the social media app before.
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, uses trackers called pixels to retrieve “tons of information,” according to the report obtained by Fox News. This information includes usernames, passwords, credit cards, banking information, and personal health details. The pixels can pick off data from any website containing an embedded TikTok video, the report claims. Even if the TikTok app is deleted, it will continue to collect and transfer data.
ByteDance is required to submit any data collected by TikTok to the Chinese government. “Therefore, your data can be shared with the Chinese government and used to spy on you or spread misinformation about the American people,” Fox News explained.
Breaking News: The Biden administration is demanding the Chinese company that owns TikTok sell the app or face a possible ban due to national security concerns. https://t.co/ZshM9YnZ3x
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 16, 2023
The Biden administration has tried to reach a data security agreement with TikTok over the past 2 years and has warned ByteDance that they may be asked to either sell the app or risk a total ban of the app throughout the United States. TikTok has already been banned on government devices in the United Kingdom, according to CNN.
Republicans have continually called for the app to be banned, and former President Donald Trump seriously considered banning the social media app in 2020. (RELATED: Trump Admin Is Seriously Considering Banning TikTok And Other Chinese Apps, Pompeo Says)
Multiple Democrat operatives have defended the social media app as an important tool for reaching younger generations.