Some ex-TikTok employees say the social media service worked closely with its China-based parent despite claims of independence
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Several former TikTok employees have claimed that the social media service worked closely with its China-based parent company, ByteDance, despite claims of independence. The ex-employees allege that TikTok's operations were intertwined with ByteDance during their tenures, contradicting the company's assertions of independence. They also claim that TikTok shared user data with ByteDance, including names, email addresses, IP addresses, and demographic information. The allegations raise concerns about the potential for the Chinese government to access and misuse user data collected by TikTok. Cybersecurity experts differ on the significance of the alleged data sharing, with some expressing concern about the potential for targeted attacks and others dismissing the claims as paranoia. The House of Representatives has voted to ban TikTok unless ByteDance sells the app to a non-Chinese company, but the Senate has yet to decide its next step. TikTok has denied the allegations, calling them unfounded and asserting that they are spread by disgruntled ex-employees with clear motives and agendas.

#Tiktok #Bytedance #DataSharing #China #UserData

https://fortune.com/2024/04/15/tiktok-china-data-sharing-bytedance-project-texas/