TikTok has been adamant that it has never given US user data to Chinese officials and that it would refuse if asked to do so. “We’ve brought in world class internal and external security experts to help us strengthen our data security efforts,” a TikTok spokesperson told AFP.
Is TikTok a Privacy concern?
And while TikTok mines the data to analyze patterns about you, there have been concerns that it sells the output information to the government so they can spy heavily on users. Pertinent to this is a 2019 lawsuit reported on BBC News which claims that TikTok sends US users’ data to the Chinese government.
Leo Falsafi is a digital marketing veteran and senior journalist at Virlan.co, where he covers the intersection of digital marketing, gaming, and breaking US trending news. With nearly two decades of hands-on experience in SEO and digital strategy, Leo has consulted for and scaled hundreds of companies. His deep industry roots allow him to deliver sharp, fact-checked insights and analysis on the trends shaping today's digital landscape.