ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, planned to use the popular video app's location data to spy on Americans, according to documents obtained by Forbes.
ByteDance's Internal Audit and Risk Control Department reports directly to Rubo Liang, the company's founder and CEO.
It is not clear if the team was able to get any information about the Americans.
It's an upsetting revelation given the app's popularity among US citizens.
TikTok's location- tracking capabilities are necessary to help show relevant content and ads to users, comply with applicable laws, and detect and prevent fraud and inauthentic behavior.
Forbes asked if the Audit team tracked the physical locations of US government officials, activists, public figures, or journalists. The company didn't say if they've targeted people with different types of content.
The timing is intriguing. The US government is in talks with Byte Dance and TikTok. The Chinese social media platform has been scrutinized due to the app's popularity.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is looking into the risks presented by foreign adversaries' access to data of United States persons.
The government's security agreement with the content platform could be derailed by this report.
This isn't the first time that a major social platform has spied on people. The location of journalists and political figures has been tracked by both Facebook and the ride-sharing service.
ByteDance is arguing that it's business as usual.
ByteDance has an internal audit function that is responsible for objectively auditing and evaluating the company and its employees. The team gives its suggestions to the leadership team.
A spokesman for TikTok said that they were confident that they were on a path to satisfy all US national security concerns.
TikTok will be used to monitor the physical location of specific Americans.
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