RED FLAG: FBI says these apps let China suck up your personal data

Centralized smartphone app storefronts, like Apple’s App Store for iPhone and the Google Play Store for Android, make apps feel like they all come from the same safe place online, but the developers behind these apps are spread out all over the world. This month, the FBI brought attention to international developers, warning that installing apps built by foreign nations could pose a major threat to user privacy and security. Are they right? Let’s find out.

Do you use these popular Chinese apps?

On the final day of March, the FBI issued a warning “to highlight data security risks associated with foreign-developed mobile applications (apps) frequently used in the United States.”

Privacy labels reveal the secret parameters embedded in your favorite apps.

The FBI was especially critical of apps developed in the heart of China. Although it didn’t go out of its way to list some of the most dubious offenders, you may have heard of these popular candidates:

• TikTok, before its USDS joint venture, was made and owned wholly by ByteDance in Beijing.
• Temu and Shein, two popular online discount stores, are Chinese-owned with the former belonging to PDD Holdings Inc. in Shanghai and the latter founded by Chris Xu, who moved his company’s headquarters from China to Singapore earlier this decade, though there are talks that Xu may relocate back to the mainland for an IPO.
• CapCut, a popular mobile video editing app, is also developed by ByteDance, especially to help users create more engaging TikTok videos.
• RedNote (aka Xiaohongshu), a TikTok alternative that briefly garnered public attention in the USA after TikTok’s USDS joint venture launch, is also based in Shanghai.
• Tencent, a technology giant out of Shenzhen, owns the popular texting app WeChat. The company also invests in many U.S.-based game companies, including Epic Games (makers of Fortnite), Larian Studios (the group behind Baldur’s Gate 3), and FromSoftware (the developers of Elden Ring).

Needless to say, Chinese companies — and by extension, the Chinese government — have their hands in many apps and games that U.S.-based users enjoy daily.

New warning, same old threat

The FBI’s warning noted that downloading and installing apps from Chinese companies could potentially leave users open to China’s mass data collection practices, which would inevitably put users’ security and privacy at risk for monitoring and abuse.

RELATED: Is downloading Trump’s new White House app a security risk?

Douglas Rissing/Getty Images

Unfortunately, while the FBI’s warning is new, foreign-made apps have long had the ability to gather user data at scale. This is partially the reason both Apple and Google implemented mandatory “Privacy Nutrition Labels” on all third-party apps in their digital stores.

How to check apps’ ‘Privacy Nutrition Labels’

The best way to protect yourself from apps with malicious data-gathering practices is to understand the kinds of data your apps can access and how the information is processed. You can find these details on the “Privacy Nutrition Label” included on any given app page.

Much like the nutritional label on a box of food displays hidden ingredients, privacy labels reveal the secret parameters embedded in your favorite apps.

Let’s look at TikTok on iOS and Android. If you click on one of those links on your mobile device and scroll down, you’ll find the “App Privacy” area on iPhone and the “Data safety” section on Android. Both of these clearly detail which bits of data the app collects and links directly to your identity.

Zach Laidlaw/TikTok/Apple App Store

As you can see, TikTok gathers a lot of personal information, including your location, contacts, search history, browsing history, device IDs, usage habits, and more. It’s a treasure trove of personal data all used to create digital user profiles and strengthen TikTok’s algorithm. This information is better protected now that all of it is stored on Oracle servers in the USA — thanks to the USDS joint venture — but before that, the CCP-influenced ByteDance saved and analyzed all of it on its servers in China.

Zach Laidlaw/TikTok/Google Play Store

Protect yourself from intrusive apps

China’s intrusive data-collection practices are the exact reason President Trump spearheaded the deal that moved TikTok’s U.S.-based user data to U.S. soil. Without it, China would continue to collect, analyze, and monetize U.S. users for reasons that benefit the Chinese government.

The unfortunate truth, however, is that TikTok is only one of many Chinese apps that can gather personal information on U.S. customers, and they do it usually without users’ knowledge. There are a few things you can do to keep yourself safe though:

1. Be sure to check and verify the apps you install on your smartphone before you download them. Don’t just install anything to your device. Do some research and confirm that every app — and its developer — is legitimate and safe by reading the app’s terms of service and privacy policy, as well as checking out app reviews.
2. Limit permissions so the app can only access the features on your phone that it needs to operate. Refrain from enabling location, microphone, camera, or photos access, and never provide other sensitive information, unless you know you can trust the app.
3. Always download the latest software updates for your phone and the app itself. Updates regularly patch security vulnerabilities to keep your device safe.

At the end of the day, the best way to secure your data and your device is to use your best judgment. Only download the apps you absolutely need. For everything else, you’re much safer accessing online services through your web browser.