TikTok tracks your every move, even if you don’t have the TikTok app | usagoldmines.com

If you’re an avid TikTok user, you probably already know that the app collects a lot of data about you. However, an analysis by the BBC has now revealed something more alarming: even if you don’t have a TikTok account, the app can track your every move.

There’s a sophisticated advertising algorithm in the background that’s been particularly active and aggressive since TikTok’s takeover by US investors, namely Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. It distributes secret little tracking pixels that can track users across multiple websites, regardless of whether they have the TikTok app on their device.

According to the BBC, this is a deliberate tactic used to create user profiles and deliver targeted advertising. These user profiles contain a wealth of data, including information on purchases made, email addresses, and even health data.

One example from the report mentions a form in which users were asked to indicate whether or not they were cancer patients. The click was then immediately forwarded to TikTok via a pixel embedded in the website. Other cases involved fertility issues and mental illnesses.

How is TikTok identifying users?

Website operators themselves are unaware that TikTok has installed these tracking pixels on their sites. Therefore, they can’t consent to (or reject) the practice. The BBC states that in some cases, TikTok even intercepts data that was intended to be transmitted to Google.

Data privacy experts describe TikTok’s approach as “extremely invasive.” Even if TikTok subsequently filters out sensitive data, it should not be intercepting this information without users’ knowledge in the first place. In addition, people without their own accounts have limited options for preventing TikTok from processing their data.

Another problem is that TikTok doesn’t use traditional third-party cookies, which can be easily rejected by users. Instead, TikTok relies on “fingerprinting,” which is a method that collects and integrates all kinds of innocuous information (e.g., operating system, battery level, time zone, screen resolution) to identify users.

When all that information is combined, it creates a unique “fingerprint” that corresponds to a specific person.

What you can do about it

According to the BBC’s report, it isn’t enough to uninstall the TikTok app, delete your account, or remove cookies. TikTok evaluates all its tracking data on the server side, not in the user’s browser.

Data and security experts therefore recommend preventing TikTok from intercepting and storing your data in the first place. To do this, you’ll want to switch to a privacy-forward browser like Firefox, DuckDuckGo, or Brave. Alternatively, you can install tracking blockers like Ghostery or Disconnect on your current browser.

Also, restrict ad tracking in your app settings. In Android, you can reset your advertising ID by going to Settings > Google > Ads and selecting “Delete advertising ID.” In iOS, you can navigate to Settings > Privacy and Security > Tracking and turn off “Allow Apps to Request Tracking.”

TikTok itself states that data collection is anything but secret. Users of the app can also delete the data collected about them in the app’s settings. However, the issue is for those who don’t use the app at all.