TikTok. It’s a popular social media app for android and iOS and has been downloaded worldwide 3.5 billion times. TikTok is very well known, but there is also some speculation that it might be invading people’s privacy. 

In October 2022, TikTok was accused of tracking American citizens. This tracking is aimed to acquire data about people’s individual lives. Consequently, some people believe that TikTok should be banned in America. Individuals are being tracked but the problem is that half of America already has the app: precisely (50.3%). Therefore it’s hard to get it banned. 

Also, TikTok has become a business for many people. Controversy around TikTok is what they use this data for or what will they use it for? TikTok uses this information to target ads at people. TikTok collects people’s approximate location information based on people’s device or network information, such as SIM card and IP address. 

Tiktok began in 2016, when Chinese company ByteDance launched Tiktok it allowed users to create and share short videos. If the United States were to ban TikTok outright, it would prevent all Americans from using it. Shiona McCallum wrote an article on TikTok, in the article TikTok says it has never given data to Beijing. 

Europe doesn’t trust TikTok, so they decided to ban the app from officials’ devices, including the UK government, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the EU Council. According to the Wall Street Journal, US President Joe Biden’s administration wants ByteDance to break away from TikTok to create a clear break from China. Overall, all social media apps collect data, and this might compromise people’s privacy and safety. Be careful what you click.