The US government has no say in what you download, unless you’re using a government device. As of August 15, US House of Representatives employees are banned from using all ByteDance apps on government devices.
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TikTok is already available, but now the ban includes a handful of other apps that you or someone close to you might be using.
- Cover cut: Video editing tools and filters
- Hypocrite:Photo editing tools and filters
- Lark: Collaboration app designed for work
- Lemon8: Social media app focused on fashion, beauty, travel, food, and other lifestyle categories.
It all comes down to ByteDance’s ties to communist China. It is based in Beijing and is required by Chinese law to give the government access to the data it collects.
The TikTok app appears on a phone screen. (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)
Let’s dig into what they collect.
If you think ByteDance’s paranoia is overblown, here’s the deal… laundry list of data you reveal every time you scroll through TikTok:
- Your name, age, username, email address, password, phone number, and location.
- Your IP address, your mobile carrier, your time zone, your device model and the operating system you use.
- Biometric identifiers, such as facial IDs and voiceprints.
- The content of your messages, as well as when exactly you send, receive, and read them.
- If you purchase items from the TikTop store, your purchase information, including credit card numbers, billing and shipping addresses.
- Your activities on other websites and applications (either in stores), including information about what you purchased.
- File names and types.
- Your keystroke patterns and rhythms.
- Objects and landscapes that appear in your videos, including tourist attractions, shops, and other iconic places.
- The websites you visit most and how you interact with them.
- Any text, image and video on your clipboard.
- Information about your videos, images and audio.
TikTok also embeds data in images and ads to track the time and date you visit a page, along with a description. The amount of data TikTok collects is so large that it can come dangerously close to cloning your entire phone.
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Where TikTok has also been a big red flag for Congress. Information collected in the United States connects directly to servers in China, although the company says it has changed its systems to store American data in the United States.
What about Temu?
Last year, one of my warnings about the wildly popular shopping app went viral. The hype is starting to fade, but Temu was the most downloaded app of its kind in the US in 2023.
Temu’s motto, “Shop like a billionaire,” refers to the rock-bottom prices on everything from clothing to household items to electronics. Although the company is based in the United States, Temu is owned by PDD Holdings, which is based in China. And that company also owns Pinduoduo, which was removed from the Google Play store by containing malware.
Temu in the App Store is displayed on a phone screen. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
While shopping, Temu can:
- Monitor activity in other applications
- Tracking your notifications
- Read private messages
- Change settings
Depending on what you enable, you’ll get full access to all your contacts, calendars, and photo albums, plus your social media accounts, chats, and text messages.
Do this now
Of course, it’s up to you which apps you want to keep on your phone. You may feel comfortable simply limiting permissions, but you may want to take it a step further.
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Delete apps from your Android phone:
- Press and hold an app, then tap Application information > Uninstall.
- Gonna Settings > Apps and Notifications to see a list of your apps and remove them in the same way.
- Or open the Google Play Store app and navigate to Menu > My Apps & GamesTap the app and press Uninstall.
- NOTE: Samsung and OnePlus phones have a Uninstall option in the application shortcuts menu.
Delete apps from your iPhone
- Press and hold an app, then tap Delete applications > Delete application > Delete.
- Or use the App Library to get a curated list of your apps grouped by category. Swipe past the last page of your Home screen to access it. Long press on the app, then select Delete application > Delete.
A man holds an iPhone in his hand. (Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)
But Kim, I have to scroll through TikTok…
…or some other app from my list above. There is a fairly safe way to do this, at least one where all the data on your real phone doesn’t end up who knows where:
- Install TikTok on an old device that is no longer connected to your email, banking information, or anything else.
If you can, keep it off your home Wi-Fi network and buy a cheap data plan. Otherwise, make sure you use the guest network. And now ask yourself if those cheap videos, photo editing tools and products are really worth it.
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