TikTok Tracked User Data Using Tactic Banned by Google

[NiveRoshni]

The tactic, which experts in mobile-phone security said was concealed through an unusual added layer of encryption, appears to have violated Google policies

Downloading TikTok and WeChat from the Google or Apple app stores in the U.S. could be blocked by President Trump's executive orders to restrict the Chinese-owned apps. WSJ watches the markets' reaction to understand what this means for global business. Photo composite: Sharon Shi

TikTok skirted a privacy safeguard in Google's Android operating system to collect unique identifiers from millions of mobile devices, data that allows the app to track users online without allowing them to opt out, a Wall Street Journal analysis has found.

The tactic, which experts in mobile-phone security said was concealed through an unusual added layer of encryption, appears to have violated Google policies limiting how apps track people and wasn't disclosed to TikTok users. TikTok ended the practice in November, the Journal's...