A study conducted by URL Genius found that TikTok and YouTube collect the most user data of all other social media apps.
The study shows that YouTube collects user data for its own purposes, such as tracking browsing history or location to show users relevant ads.
Meanwhile, TikTok, a company owned by Bytedance, allows third-party trackers to collect user data for various purposes.
In the case of third-party trackers, it is almost impossible to know who collected user data and what type of information was retrieved.
The data can be in the form of various data, including location information; as well as personal information that can be accessed by the application. The research also shows that third-party trackers can monitor user activity even after exiting the app.
"Consumers are currently unable to see what data third-party networks are getting, or how their data will be used," the report authors wrote.
In his research, URL Genius uses the App Activity Recording feature available on iOS devices. With the help of this feature, it can be determined how many different domains are monitoring user activity on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Telegram, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Messenger and WhatsApp apps.
YouTube and TikTok each make 14 network contacts which is significantly more than other apps which average only 6 network connections.
TikTok has indeed been the subject of criticism in the past for its collection and use of user data, especially in the case of underage users of the platform.
Last year, TikTok's privacy policy stated that TikTok could share user data with the service's parent company despite claims that the platform follows security measures to protect the privacy of user data.