Apple iOS 14 feature catches Chinese app TikTok snooping on iPhone's clipboard

One of many new features introduced by Apple in iOS 14 has exposed short video-making app TikTok snooping into the iPhone’s clipboard without the user’s knowledge. The Chinese app has reportedly told Apple that it will stop accessing the clipboard henceforth.

In iOS 14, Apple has ramped up its privacy measures by introducing a banner-like notification that alerts a user when an app appears to be pasting from the clipboard. Early developer users have been appreciating Apple for highlighting TikTok’s snapping practices without taking any user consent.

Okay so TikTok is grabbing the contents of my clipboard every 1-3 keystrokes. iOS 14 is snitching on it with the new paste notification pic.twitter.com/OSXP43t5SZ

— Jeremy Burge (@jeremyburge) June 24, 2020

Hey @tiktok_us, why do you paste from my clipboard every time I type a LETTER in your comment box? Shout out to iOS 14 for shining a light on this HUGE invasion of privacy. inb4 they say it was a "bug" pic.twitter.com/MHv10PmzZS

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— Maxel  (@MaxelAmador) June 25, 2020

TikTok, in its defence, told The Telegraph that the issue is due to a “feature designed to identify repetitive, spammy behaviour,” and it has “already submitted an updated version of the app to the App Store removing the anti-spam feature to eliminate any potential confusion.” It is worth noting that TikTok was previously caught performing a similar act. It had then stated that it would fix the issue within weeks.

Also Read: Best iOS 14 features

The report also states that many other apps have been snooping into the user clipboard. These include popular apps like AccuWeather, Starbucks app, Call of Duty Mobile, Google News, etc. 

To tackle this issue, Apple has now implemented a new privacy feature in iOS 14 wherein apps will require the user’s permission before tracking. It will also show what the data was used for by the developer in a summarised format in the App Store.