HE TikTok’s integrated browser has the ability to monitor most of the user activity when used to open pages outside the short video platform. The discovery was made by security researcher Felix Krause, who detailed the action in a report released Thursday (18).
According to the expert, Chinese video app browser trackings It happens due to the inclusion of JavaScript commands on websites visited by the user from the tool. With this, the company can know what people are doing on the pages.
He explains that the mechanism allows, for example, to monitor the touches given to elements such as buttons and advertisements while the internet user is on the site. The function of the code is similar to the performance of a keylogger and makes it possible to retrieve login data and passwords from cards; this does not mean that the application uses the resource for these purposes.
inauguration TikTok browser occurs when the user taps on the ads posted on the platform or the links found in the creators’ profiles. The app doesn’t offer the option to choose a traditional browser like Chrome or Safari by opening the integrated software directly.
Application refuses to track
In the statement posted forbesTikTok has confirmed the service’s existence of default browser codes and capabilities as stated by Krause. Despite everything, popular short video app denied watching users in the app’s browser.
“Like other platforms, we use an in-app browser to provide an optimal user experience, but the Javascript code in question is only used for performance monitoring of this experience, such as debugging, troubleshooting, and checking how fast a page loads or crashes,” he explained. company spokesperson Maureen Shanahan.
The expert report shows that data capture can happen on both Android and iOS. In addition, it mentions the existence of similar tools in Facebook, Messenger and Instagram, with the difference that these applications allow the opening of advertisements and websites using other browsers installed on the mobile phone.
Source: Tec Mundo
