‘A shocking thing’: Concerns over TikTok harvesting people’s data without their consent

Shadow Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister James Paterson has responded to reports TikTok is harvesting people’s data without their consent. Australian businesses are being told to remove a tracking tool from TikTok over concerns companies are harvesting people’s data without their consent, as the Chinese-owned social media giant can access a person’s email, phone numbers and browse history using a tracking tool known as a pixel. The pixel can track a user across the internet and piece together their identity, even if they don’t have TikTok on their phone. “This is the remarkable thing – some Australians choose to use TikTok even knowing it’s a risk to their privacy, but many Australians who don’t use TikTok because it’s a risk to their privacy are still having their data harvested,” Mr Paterson said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Simply going to a website … having their details harvested unknowingly and tracked across the internet – that’s a shocking thing. “No one who doesn’t download the TikTok app has signed up to that kind of surveillance by a Chinese Communist Party-linked company.”