We Found 28,000 Apps Sending Data to TikTok. A Ban Won’t Help.


Source: gizmodo.com gizmodo.com

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Joe Biden gave federal agencies 30 days to remove TikTok from government devices earlier this week. Until now, most politicians intent on punishing TikTok have focused solely on banning the app itself, but, according to a memo reviewed by Reuters, federal agencies must also “prohibit internet traffic from reaching the company.” That’s a lot more complicated than it sounds. Gizmodo has learned that tens of thousands of apps—many which may already be installed on federal employees’ work phones—use code that sends data to TikTok. Some 28,251 apps use TikTok’s software development kits, (SDKs), tools which integrates apps with TikTok’s systems—and...