A study by URL Genius revealed a surprising fact. TikTok and YouTube collect more user data than any other social media app.
Research shows that YouTube collects user data primarily for its own sake. This is done to track browsing history or location to show users relevant ads.
In contrast, TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, allows third-party trackers to collect users' personal data for a variety of purposes.
When it comes to third-party trackers that TikTok allows, it's almost impossible to know who is collecting user data and what kind of information is being retrieved.
So it can be many types of data, including location information as well as personal information that can be accessed by applications. Research also shows that third-party trackers can track user activity even after exiting the app.
"Consumers currently cannot know what data is being retrieved from the social network TikTok from third parties or how their data will be used," said the study's authors.
URL Genius research uses the App Activity Recording feature available on the iOS operating system. With the help of this feature, researchers can determine 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 generate 14 different addresses, far more than any other social networking app, with an average of only 6 address connections.
It can also be determined that 10 YouTube trackers are included in the service. This means that the platform basically monitors user activity for its own benefit. At the same time, 4 trackers send data to third parties. In the case of TikTok, 13 out of 14 trackers share data with third parties, and tracking does not stop even if the user does not give permission in the app settings.
TikTok has been the subject of criticism in the past for its collection and use of user data; especially in the case of underage platform users. Last year, TikTok's privacy policy stated that TikTok may share user data with the service's parent company; despite claims that the platform follows security measures to "protect the privacy of user data", according to CNBC.