Felix Krause, a cybersecurity expert who previously worked at companies such as Google and Twitter, announced that he discovered a special code used to track credit cards and passwords in TikTok’s in-app browser and urged Apple to take action.
China-based social media giant TikTok, on the one hand, sets an example for Instagram and YouTube with its features; on the other hand Concerns that it’s a ‘global tracking app’ Growing steadily. The latest critical findings on these concerns are the iOS developer and cybersecurity expert who made the cover of Forbes magazine in Germany while working at Twitter. Felix KrauseIt came from , so the source is pretty reliable.
According to the evidence presented by Krause, the in-app browser that opens when you click any link in TikTok (like the browser that opens when you click on links in Instagram), critical information such as credit card and password The recorder has a secret code. So if you see a different website link while browsing on TikTok, it’s not just that you clicked on that link; For example, the information you use while shopping on that link is also recorded.
“Equivalent to keylogger software that monitors every key you press”
“New Post: In-app browser announcement – See which JavaScript commands are embedded in the in-app browser”
“TikTok places a tracking code within the app that can track all keystrokes and taps, including passwords, while opening any website.”
Sharing his allegations and evidence both on his personal blog and on Twitter on August 18, Krause stated in his statement to Business Insider that the code used is “equivalent to a keylogger.” Keylogger software is one of the most rooted cyber tracking software in the IT world and It records every key you press on the keyboard and shares it with third parties without your soul hearing it.. However, Kreuse limited his claim, stating that “TikTok stores or uses this data. unable to find any concrete evidence” states.
TikTok has confirmed the existence of such a code, but denied allegations that it was collecting sensitive user information:
Making statements on the subject, the TikTok spokesperson stated that Krause gave misleading and false information and added: “The researcher who published the report already acknowledges that it does not mean that our application is doing ‘malicious things’ with the JavaScript code in question; it says there is no way to determine what kind of data our in-app crawler is collecting. We don’t track which keystrokes or texts users type through this code, which is only used for debugging, troubleshooting and performance monitoring.”
Open call to Apple: Use Safari for in-app browsers
Felix Krause, who said he found TikTok’s tracking code
Apple’s Application Transparency Monitoring policy notifies iPhone users instantly which application is being followed for a long time. However, the in-app browser that opens when using TikTok on iPhones does not belong to Apple. In apps like Instagram, users have the right to choose it, but Apple has given TikTok some leeway here, according to Krause. According to the expert’s statements, Apple’s enforcing the Safari browser in TikTok may be an important step in alleviating concerns.
Editor’s note: The trade war of US and Chinese brands is felt behind all these claims.
Photo: REUTERS @Jason Lee
Kreuse’s comments aren’t the first to fuel concerns about TikTok. In fact, the origin of most of these claims lies in the competition of social media giants representing the USA and China. If you remember, in the past years Apple and Huawei rivalry turned into Chinese and US rivalrySerious news were published in the western media that Huawei was a company that followed the whole world on behalf of the Chinese government, sanctions were even imposed on the relatives of senior executives in the USA, and Google, under pressure from the US government, withdrew all its services from Huawei. Huawei also abandoned Android after a while, its own operating system HarmonyOS He decided to move on with it.
In fact, investigations on TikTok have similar dynamics to those on Huawei. However, what is different this time is not a smartphone manufacturer of the accused company, but a social media application that spreads much faster because it is free and can be reached in a short time. On top of that, the Chinese government’s support to technology companies and the “point citizenship” system Considering the applications like these, the developments reported in the western media make more sense. Still, everything that is written and drawn needs more concrete evidence, but unfortunately, no world giant is accustomed to billions of dollars of sanctions and closure penalties by saying ‘this is how we follow you all’.
In the meantime, it should be noted that TikTok has been banned for about 2 years in India, the pilot country of western technology giants, with similar concerns.