TikTok Class Action Says App Secretly Collects User Data

A class action lawsuit has been filed against TikTok by users who claim that the popular lip-syncing and dancing app collects personal data without their permission.

Misty Hong says TikTok accumulates data and transfers that information to servers in China. This information can reportedly be used to identify and track the location of users within the United States.

In addition, the plaintiff states that TikTok has extracted draft videos that were never meant for publication without the permission of their users.

“TikTok unjustly profits from its secret harvesting of private and personally-identifiable user data by, among other things, using such data to derive vast targeted-advertising revenues and profits,” the TikTok class action lawsuit notes.

The plaintiff claims that TikTok is the most downloaded non-game app in the world and often outranks top competitors like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram.

In addition, the TikTok app had 625 million monthly active users as of August 2019 and the average user opens up the TikTop app more than eight times a day, Hong alleges.

The TikTok class action lawsuit claims that one of the ways in which TikTok makes money is by targeted advertising, which relies on knowledge of users’ preferences, and this knowledge is gained by collecting personal identifying information about their users.

“Defendants have accumulated much more private and personally-identifiable data that they are monetizing for the purpose of unjustly profiting from their unlawful activities,” the TikTok class action lawsuit states.

In February 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against the defendants claiming that the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal information from children under 13 years of age without their consent. The company paid a civil penalty of $5.7 million, which was the largest penalty paid for such a violation.

The TikTok class action lawsuit also claims that once users record their videos, but before they decide to post them to the app, the company transfers the videos to a domain owned and controlled by the defendants. Hong claims that during the transfer of the video, there is no progress bar that indicates that the transfer took place.

The plaintiff also says the defendant went through great pains to hide their tracks of collecting personal information.

The TikTok class action states that TikTok obscures the source code that would have made the taking of users personal information transparent. In addition, Hong claims that the company used non-standard encryption to hide the transfer of the personal information.

“The Musical.ly and TikTok apps begin taking certain User/Device Identifiers and Biometric Identifiers immediately upon the completion of the download process and before users even have the opportunity to sign-up and create an account,” the TikTok class action lawsuit alleges.

The defendant also recently released a public statement claiming that they store all user data in the United States, with a back-up in Singapore, according to the plaintiff. In addition, the defendant states that the data centers are located outside of China.

Do you use TikTok and think the company is collecting your private personal information? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiff is represented by Ekwan E. Rhow, Thomas R. Freeman, and Marc E. Masters of Bird Marella Boxer Wolpert Nessim Drooks Lincenberg & Rhow PC and Marc L. Godino and Jonathan M. Rotter of Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP.

The TikTok Data Collection Class Action Lawsuit is Misty Hong v. Bytedance Inc., et al., Case No. 5:19-cv-07792, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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