Former workers who talked with The Wall Street Journal that users of TikTok who saw LGBT content were put on a list that was accessible to authorized personnel. The ID number that TikTok assigns to each user when they begin watching videos on the well-known app allowed users to be identified.
The Journal reports that the practice was carried out for “at least a year” in order to identify patterns and discover strategies for increasing platform involvement. The workers claimed that TikTok also compiled information about people who viewed various kinds of content, but that these subjects were not deemed to be delicate.
The Journal quoted TikTok as saying that “safeguarding the privacy and security of people who use TikTok is one of our top priorities.” TikTok did not immediately reply.
The Journal reported a TikTok representative as claiming that the popular video app “doesn’t identify potentially sensitive information such as sexual orientation or race of users based on what they choose to watch,” nor does TikTok “infer such information.” The spokesperson said that the information gathered “isn’t necessarily a sign of someone’s identity” and that TikTok had “protocols” in place before to the data’s erasure to guarantee that sensitive information was only accessed by authorized staff.
TikTok employees may access specific information about users who were viewing posts in categories including those with LGBTQ topics. TikTok is a social media app that is under investigation in the US for how its Chinese owners may handle user data. TikTok has 150 million US users. According to earlier Wall Street Journal reports Biden administration officials have pressed TikTok to split its US subsidiary from Chinese shareholders.
