The Chinese company ByteDance, behind TikTok, has agreements with many companies that place these beacons on websites.

Result: Internet users, whether they are users of the social network or not, are tracked on these websites without their knowledge and the automatically collected data – potentially sensitive information – is transmitted on behalf of the application.

That’s according to a study published in the magazine consumer reports and performed by the company Disconnect, which provides tools to protect against advertising tracking. The search covers 20,000 US websites, some of which may reveal sensitive information, including religion or health.

Agreements with Government Agencies

Among the examined websites that submit data to TikTok are several web addresses with government (.gov), educational (.edu), and government (.org) suffixes. The study cites Weight Watchers, the United Methodist Church and Planned Parenthood.

Tracking pixels may collect other data, such as B. IP address, keystrokes and pages viewed on a website.

Google and Facebook (Meta) then use them to sell targeted advertising to Internet users who, for example, have already visited their website. They are also used to measure the effectiveness of their advertising.

I was really surprised that TikTok trackers are already so widespreadsaid consumer reports Patrick Jackson, Disconnect’s chief technology officer. I think people are conditioned to believe Facebook is everywhere and they can get their data. I don’t think they’re making that connection to TikTok yet.

Contacted by consumer reportsAccording to TikTok, it also wants to use this data for advertising purposes.

” As with other platforms, the data we receive from advertisers is used to improve the effectiveness of our advertising. »

The spokesman for the social network clarified that TikTok has mechanisms in place to prevent the transmission of sensitive data, especially that of minors.

How can you protect yourself from these tracers? Internet users are advised to use browsers like Brave or browser extensions like uBlock that block or interrupt trackers.