YouTube And Tiktok Collects Users Data More Than Any Social Networking App Per Report

According to a survey conducted by URL Genius showcasing the popular video streaming and social networking sites, TikTok and YouTube are the most popular social networking apps for gathering user data. When it comes to data collection, it’s difficult to tell if YouTube uses this for its own purposes or whether TikTok permits other parties to do so.

Research shows that Google’s YouTube gathers user data solely for its own purposes. The user’s surfing history or location may be used to target appropriate advertisements. It’s impossible to understand where and how this data is used when it’s collected by third-party trackers on TikTok, which is controlled by the Chinese business ByteDance.

TikTok and Youtube User Data

Third-party trackers make it almost impossible to determine who is collecting user data and what kind of information is being collected by the trackers themselves. This may include information about the user’s current location, as well as any other personal data to which the app has access. Even after a user has exited the programme, third-party trackers may still monitor their activities.

In their paper, the authors noted that “consumers are now unable to see what data reach third-party networks, or how their data will be used.”

Using iOS’s App Activity Recording function, URL Genius conducted their investigation. As a result of its usage, researchers were able to estimate how many distinct domains track user behaviour across a variety of popular social media platforms such as YouTube TikTok Twitter Telegram LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Messenger WhatsApp. This is much higher than the other applications, which averaged just six network connections apiece.

It was also discovered that the service had 10 YouTube trackers. This effectively indicates that the platform is keeping tabs on what its users are up to for its own gain. Four trackers sent data to a third party at the same time. Thirteen of TikTok’s fourteen trackers provided user data with third parties, and monitoring continued even if the user refused to grant permission in the app’s settings.

In the past, TikTok has been criticised for its acquisition and usage of user data, particularly in the case of underage TikTok users. Tilt has previously stated that it might share user data with its parent firm, despite assertions that security precautions were taken to “guard user data privacy.”