My daughter downloaded TikTok about a year ago. I had her delete it and we factory reset her phone. Is this enough to clean any trackers that TikTok might have installed on her phone? Or should we look at getting her a new phone? Thanks concerned parent
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TikTok
- Thread starter bt22
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Trackers? You can disable ad tracking within iOS.
What are you trying to prevent/avoid/stop?
What are you trying to prevent/avoid/stop?
Deleting the app is sufficient.
TikTok tracks users while their using the app.
Factory reset wipes an iPhone completely clean.
It’s gone gone gone.
TikTok tracks users while their using the app.
Factory reset wipes an iPhone completely clean.
It’s gone gone gone.
It is being reported that the app is tracking key strokes and monitoring all apps on the device. I just wanted to make sure she was not being tracked. I think there was a news report that said they advised deleting the app and getting a new phone. Just wanted to make sure. Thanks for the reply
Oh geez this is media hype 🤦♂️... It can record whatever you're doing in the app just like other apps such as Facebook can do. It can't do anything outside the app. There's no secret spy program installed with TikTok. Deleting the app deletes everything.
Factory Reset Wipe as TikTok can’t be completely deleted otherwise.
And - I would still wonder short of a complete format of the entire device.
And - I would still wonder short of a complete format of the entire device.
Maybe destroy the hardware as well. There's no way to know if it's not hardcoded onto the system.
Fact is after deletion, remnants of the app were still sending data back to the mother ship. You can do a quick format but the data still is there and not destroyed. Only a slow format and then setting up partitions is the only way to be absolutely sure.
Now, if we are at this level of paranoia - then maybe the app should be banned - though this is has nothing to do with China. China always seems to know what you posted… 😬
Now, if we are at this level of paranoia - then maybe the app should be banned - though this is has nothing to do with China. China always seems to know what you posted… 😬
Only way to be sure is axe the phone in half. Deleting the app or factory reset isn't enough.
I don’t know if the others here suggesting taking a axe to the phone are serious or not, but they shouldn’t be taken seriously.
At most, an app can track what you do within the app — and, even then, Apple has at least some legal guardrails such that they’ll yank an app for overly obnoxious activity.
Tracking activity outside the app would require exploiting some security vulnerability. Apple would actively disable the app once they learned it was doing anything like that; immediately work on an emergency patch to prevent anybody else from exploiting the bug; ban the developer from the App Store entirely; and probably sue the bejezesus out of them.
Deleting the app is more than enough to stop any tracking it might engage in. Simply not using it is sufficient.
b&
At most, an app can track what you do within the app — and, even then, Apple has at least some legal guardrails such that they’ll yank an app for overly obnoxious activity.
Tracking activity outside the app would require exploiting some security vulnerability. Apple would actively disable the app once they learned it was doing anything like that; immediately work on an emergency patch to prevent anybody else from exploiting the bug; ban the developer from the App Store entirely; and probably sue the bejezesus out of them.
Deleting the app is more than enough to stop any tracking it might engage in. Simply not using it is sufficient.
b&
I should add: TikTok is owned by a Chinese company. It’s a slam dunk that the Chinese government actively monitors all activity on TikTok.
For that reason alone, everybody who values privacy and freedom of expression should avoid TikTok like the plague.
But I would also note that it’s also guaranteed that the Chinese government has zero interest whatsoever in American teenagers posting dance videos. The reason to eschew TikTok has nothing to do with her being spied upon by foreign governments.
b&
For that reason alone, everybody who values privacy and freedom of expression should avoid TikTok like the plague.
But I would also note that it’s also guaranteed that the Chinese government has zero interest whatsoever in American teenagers posting dance videos. The reason to eschew TikTok has nothing to do with her being spied upon by foreign governments.
b&
Are we truly sure that TikTok app is absolutely sandboxed with no access to other apps. All it has to do is get them to send information to their mothership through those other apps and you can delete TikTok and it still works for them.
Anyway they are not targeting one kid but a blanket form of snooping and then target.
Everything said above was from some other expert as I know nothing about this. I say nothing disparaging about China as I am in no position to make any such comments. 😬
Here’s the latest development:
arstechnica.com
TikTok would be banned from US “for good” under bipartisan bill
Lawmakers liken TikTok’s widening influence in the US to “digital fentanyl.”…
arstechnica.com
Then the kid downloads the app again but hides the icon from the parents. Ban, ban, and ban - said a friend of mine with whom I don’t hold an opinion on the matter either way…. 😬
Yes, we are absolutely, truly sure.
There is zero chance that China or any other state actor would waste a Pegasus-level attack on something like TikTok. Anything like that, they’re saving for targeted attacks on people worth the expense.
Even without that sort of hack, they’re in danger of getting banned by Congress.
Is it possible that they’ve used TikTok as an entry point for something Pegasus-like? Sure, but, even then, it would make more sense to use email or SMS or whatever. Why point fingers at themselves?
Delete the app and call it a day.
And, if you don’t believe me … what makes you think your new phone won’t be pre-hacked at the Foxconn plant?
If you trust Apple enough to own the phone in the first place, you should trust them enough to get the sandbox right. And to patch up any messes after the fact.
b&
Not sure what the paranoia is about. TikTok is as invasive as Facebook and Instagram, and they track your interactions within the app. With App tracking protection, I doubt the app would track anything outside its sandboxed environment, unless the user explicitly allows it (eg allowing it to access contacts or location).
I'm not sure why people are so concerned with TikTok yet are fine with Facebook and Instagram. If there's a demand to ban one, the other should go as well as they're basically the same type of data harvester.
I'm not sure why people are so concerned with TikTok yet are fine with Facebook and Instagram. If there's a demand to ban one, the other should go as well as they're basically the same type of data harvester.
Care to share the news media that reported those things?
Probably to prevent their employees from accidentally exposing some internal secrets while they're dancing around the office. Any social media apps should be restricted in government institutions anyway.
Well they are currently recruiting “retired” military to make and oversee production of iPhones at Foxconn… (Appleinsider/Reuters)
This only works if you make sure the four pieces never go back together. I’m pretty sure there’s something in the code of that app that would fused them together.