Monday 18 July 2022 05:03 PM TikTok ban called for by experts after report shows app sends data to China: ... trends now
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 being targeted without the user being aware.
The Beijing-backed app taps into users' 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.
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 (stock image)
Robert Potter Internet 2.0 CEO accused TikTok and its parent company ByteDance of being deceptive.
'Their source code is at odds with their public statements about how their app functions,' he told the Nine network.
TikTok says all user data for the region is hosted in Singapore and only accessed by a small number of people who need it to maintain the site.
'The IP address is in Singapore, the network traffic does not leave the region and it is categorically untrue to imply there is communication with China,' the company said in a statement.
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 a 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 Beijing-backed app taps into users' smartphone calendars, contacts list and scans the device's ID and hard drive to monitor all other apps that have been installed
'During analysis we could not determine with high confidence the purpose for the connection or where user data is stored,' the report said.
'The China
