TikTok Has Been Caught Accessing User Clipboards Via iOS 14 and States it Will Stop

iOS 14 now notifies users when an app reads their clipboard. Users who are taking part in the iOS 14 beta have discovered that TikTok is a culprit of this.

TikTok users have quickly found that the app is reading their clipboard. In one example, Emojipedia’s Jeremy Burge saw TikTok consistently accessing the clipboard every few keystrokes as he typed within the app. As Burge wrote a cheeky message reading: “Ok TikTok pls don’t steal my clipboard contents as I type a comment,” an alert would appear.

TikTok has quickly responded to this discovery. In a statement given to The Telegraph, TikTok has claimed that this enabled to identify spammy behaviour. A representative said:

“Following the beta release of ‌iOS 14‌ on June 22, users saw notifications while using a number of popular apps. For TikTok, this was triggered by a feature designed to identify repetitive, spammy behaviour. We have already submitted an updated version of the app to the App Store removing the anti-spam feature to eliminate any potential confusion. TikTok is committed to protecting users’ privacy and being transparent about how our app works.”

It appears as though an update removing this feature has already been submitted to the App Store. Users can now download the update, which confirms that TikTok is unable to read clipboard information.

Additional apps including AccuWeather, AliExpress, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Fox News have also been caught accessing user’s clipboards.

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