TikTok is to stop reading the contents of users’ clipboards. The recent beta release of iOS 14 revealed the practice was still going on.
A spokesman for TikTok told The Telegraph:
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 behavior. 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.
In February, iPhone developers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk discovered that a number of popular apps, including TikTok, were routinely accessing clipboards on both iPhones and Android devices. The video-sharing platform had not confirmed at the time of this writing whether it would also be closing the loophole on Android devices.