TikTok browser can track users’ keystrokes, according to new research

The web browser used within the TikTok app can track every keystroke made by its users, according to new research that is surfacing as the Chinese-owned video app grapples with U.S. lawmakers’ concerns over its data practices.

The research from Felix Krause, a privacy researcher and former Google engineer, did not show how TikTok used the capability, which is embedded within the in-app browser that pops up when someone clicks an outside link. But Krause said the development was concerning because it showed TikTok had built in functionality to track users’ online habits if it chose to do so.

Collecting information on what people type on their phones while visiting outside websites, which can reveal credit card numbers and passwords, is often a feature of malware and other hacking tools. While major technology companies might use such trackers as they test new software, it is not common for them to release a major commercial app with the feature, whether or not it is enabled, researchers said.

In a statement, TikTok, which is owned by Chinese internet firm ByteDance, said that Krause’s report was “incorrect and misleading” and that the feature was used for “debugging, troubleshooting and performance monitoring.”

“Contrary to the report’s claims, we do not collect keystroke or text inputs through this code,” TikTok said.

Krause said he was unable to ascertain whether keystrokes were actively being tracked and whether that data was being sent to TikTok.

The research could raise questions for TikTok in the United States, where government officials have scrutinized whether the popular app could endanger U.S. national security by sharing information about Americans with China. Although debate in Washington about the app had receded under the Biden administration, new concerns have boiled over in recent months after revelations from BuzzFeed News and other news outlets about TikTok’s data practices and ties to its Chinese parent.

Krause said that he carried out the research on TikTok only on Apple’s iOS operating system and noted that the keystroke tracking would only occur within the in-app browser.

In a CNN interview in July, Michael Beckerman, a TikTok policy executive, denied that the company logs users’ keystrokes but acknowledged monitoring their patterns, such as typing frequency, to safeguard against fraud.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.