‘TikTok seems too good to be true.’ Internet experts say there are reasons for users to worry

Nikolich said the nature of TikTok as a video platform allows it to collect data about a user’s face. But, additional biometric information is collected, she said, like how users hold their phones and when and where they access the app. This information is used to create a ‘profile’ of a user. — Dreamstime/TNS

TikTok, the popular video-sharing app, has come under fire by the Trump administration several weeks after people used the app to flood Trump’s Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally with fake registrations in a mass prank. The administration is now considering a ban of the app due to security risks – a claim experts say is valid.

“Like a lot of other social media apps, TikTok seems too good to be true,” said Anita Nikolich, professor and director of the Active Computational Center at Illinois Institute of Technology. “The amount of data (TikTok) collects is above and beyond what other social media platforms collect.”