TikTok Collected Android Users’ MAC Addresses Despite Google Security Systems

Read the original article: TikTok Collected Android Users’ MAC Addresses Despite Google Security Systems

While Microsoft is now in talks to purchase Internet phenomenon TikTok, new information reveals that the Chinese-owned service sometimes turned to questionable tactics without users knowing about them.

More specifically, a report from the WSJ reveals that TikTok collected users’ MAC addresses from Android devices despite a series of protections put in place by Google.

And what’s more, the search giant has specifically banned the practice, only that the TikTok app even featured an extra system whose purpose was to hide this information tracking.

The MAC address, which is unique for every device, was included in the batch of data that TikTok collected from Android devices and which users typically gave their consent for. This data includes advertising-related information, such as the advertising ID.

According to the report, the MAC address collection was sh…

Read the original article: TikTok Collected Android Users’ MAC Addresses Despite Google Security Systems