TIKTOK ‘SNOOP’ SHOCK

China staffers exposed

Fears that China could snoop on TikTok users were confirmed in leaked recordings from internal meetings held by the social media app’s parent company, according to a bombshell report Friday.

The recordings revealed that China-based employees of ByteDance repeatedly accessed data tied to US users — raising fresh concerns about TikTok, which once faced a ban in the United States because of privacy concerns.

Audio clips from dozens of meetings revealed 14 statements from nine TikTok employees who said ByteDance engineers in China could access nonpublic US user data, BuzzFeed reported, citing material from more than 80 meetings.

The Chinese employees were capable of accessing the information from at least September 2021 through January.

The leaked recordings suggest that Beijing-based ByteDance’s ability to access US user data was fartherreaching than previously known — with one TikTok director stating at a September 2021 gathering that one unnamed engineer in China was “Master Admin” who “has access to everything.”

In a separate meeting that same month, a member of TikTok’s Trust and Safety Department purportedly said that “everything is seen in China.”

BuzzFeed said the recordings were taken at TikTok meetings ranging from closed-door talks between company executives to allhands presentations. The report suggests that TikTok officials in communications with both congressional lawmakers and the public may have downplayed the extent to which China had access to its database.

The outlet said it compiled statements from eight employees who said USbased TikTok workers had to consult with colleagues in China to assess the flow of user information — with American employees reportedly lacking the ability to look at the data.

More than 1B users

TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms, especially with children and young adults, having more than 1 billion active users worldwide.

“We know we’re among the most scrutinized platforms from a security standpoint, and we aim to remove any doubt about the security of US user data,” TikTok spokesperson Maureen Shanahan said in a statement to BuzzFeed.

“That’s why we hire experts in their fields, continually work to validate our security standards, and bring in reputable, independent third parties to test our defenses,” the spokesperson added.