If the TikTok application is often talked about, it is not only because of its addictive short videos popular among the youngest. For several months, the Chinese platform has been in many countries. western due to recurring questions related to the security of the personal data of its users.
In fact, the application collects a significant amount of information from them, just like Facebook or Instagram. Data used on behalf of advertisers to deliver targeted ads that match the interests of TikTok users.
List in app stores
For the user, a simple way to better measure the scope of the data collected is to go to the TikTok tab in the smartphone application stores. For several years now, the latter have summarized all the access authorizations requested by any application, to go and extract information from the device.
According to the description of the application available in the Google Play Store (or in the App Store), the latter may collect the following personal data: name, email address, date of birth, user ID, messages received in the application, contacts, application activity, Internet browsing history, financial information (user payment information, purchase history…) as well as the user’s location.
For privacy reasons, TikTok requests permission to access the microphone and camera of users’ smartphones. However, a refusal implies the impossibility of using your mobile to record videos. While this amount of information may seem significant, it should be noted that the Chinese social network collects less than its competitors, particularly Instagram, which requests access to other data, such as “health and physical activity” related information. “.
Consultation of your personal data: instructions for use
To find out what TikTok has about him, each user can request a copy of his personal data from the social network, which can be downloaded from the application.
- Touch the troit lines at the top right
- Click on “Settings and privacy” in the menu that appears
- Go to the “Account” tab
- Click “Download your data. Get a copy of your TikTok data” and press “Processing request.”
File preparation can take up to three days and download is available for up to four days. According to TikTok, the data provided includes all the details related to the user’s profile, as well as all their activity (video and comment history, conversations, etc.). Data transfer integrity limited by GDPR, the European regulation on personal data, since 2018.
Source: BFM TV
