MACON, Ga. — This week, the US Senate approved a measure that would ban federal employees from using the popular app, TikTok, on government devices.
The measure, introduced by Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, passed after federal agencies like the State Department and Department of Homeland Security banned the app on their devices over security concerns. Tuesday, Senator Marco Rubio also proposed bipartisan legislation to ban the app altogether in the US.
In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday he would ban the app on all state-owned phones and other devices. He's one of about a dozen governors all banning the app on state-owned devices. Dallas State Senator Jason Anavitarte says he'd support banning it in Georgia entirely.
"They collect your time zone, your advertising ID, which can be reversed to track exactly who you are," explained Mercer cybersecurity professor Johnathan Yerby.
He says all that information is right on TikTok's website. It's the user agreement you sign off on just by logging in.
"Any time you do anything on your phone, they track it," Yerby said.
The company's website says they track things like your battery state, audio settings and connected devices. Yerby says that information gives TikTok more access than you think. They can even access your camera, he says.
Middle Georgia State cybersecurity professor Alan Stines says plenty of companies track personal information.
"Apple has implemented a lot of privacy features on the phone itself. But even then, Apple itself is collecting data about your usage. Where you go, and your GPS coordinates, and where you go and the things you're looking up," he said.
Destiny Smith uses TikTok every day. She says she learns all kinds of useful information.
"You can like learn hacks off of it and stuff," she said.
Smith says she didn't know anything about the cybersecurity risk, but she says she'll probably keep using it.
"It's just really interesting watching stuff. So I'll just probably keep the camera away from my face," she said.
After hearing what Yerby had to say, TikTok user Peyton Phillips says: "It's not that important. I mean, it's funny but it's not that important. It's not worth my personal business."
So what can you do? Yerby says all hope is not lost. His biggest advice is just to delete the app, and do a factory reset on your phone.
TikTok has more than a billion monthly users around the world. It's owned by Chinese company Byte Dance. The company denies it sends data to the Chinese government.