According to TikTok, it does not track users’ precise GPS whereabouts in the US, thus it cannot be used to monitor people “in the way [Forbes] recommended.” In reaction to a Forbes report that claimed a team from the app’s parent firm, ByteDance, had intended to use the app to track “the personal location of some specific American residents,” the app’s communications staff responded that they were “not at all surprised.” It’s not clear if data on those people had truly been gathered.
According to Forbes, the monitoring project’s personnel works for ByteDance’s Internal Audit and Risk Control division. Investigations into alleged misbehavior by current and former firm workers are normally the responsibility of this section. The publication said, however, that the organization intended to utilize TikTok to gather information regarding the whereabouts of a US resident who, in at least two instances, had never worked for the company.
In response to the publication’s claims, TikTok has maintained that Forbes left out the part of its statement that stated that it doesn’t gather precise GPS location. It said the section “disproved the plausibility of [the piece’s] central allegation.” Additionally, TikTok emphasized that it has never been used to target US government officials, celebrities, activists, or journalists, and that it does not provide them with content that is different from that which is available to other users. According to Forbes, TikTok “did not address queries” regarding whether ByteDance’s internal audit team singled out members of those groups for scrutiny.
