TikTok just gave itself permission to collect biometric data on US
users, including ‘faceprints and voiceprints’
Sarah Perez@sarahintampa / 6:57 PM EDT•June 3, 2021
https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/03/tiktok-just-gave-itself-permission-to-collect-biometric-data-on-u-s-users-including-faceprints-and-voiceprints/
A change to TikTok’s U.S. privacy policy on Wednesday introduced a new
section that says the social video app “may collect biometric
identifiers and biometric information” from its users’ content. This
includes things like “faceprints and voiceprints,” the policy
explained. Reached for comment, TikTok could not confirm what product
developments necessitated the addition of biometric data to its list of
disclosures about the information it automatically collects from users,
but said it would ask for consent in the case such data collection
practices began.
The biometric data collection details were introduced in the newly added
section, “Image and Audio Information,” found under the heading of
“Information we collect automatically” in the policy.
This is the part of TikTok’s Privacy Policy that lists the types of
data the app gathers from users, which was already fairly extensive.
The first part of the new section explains that TikTok may collect
information about the images and audio that are in users’ content,
“such as identifying the objects and scenery that appear, the
existence and location within an image of face and body features and
attributes, the nature of the audio, and the text of the words spoken in
your User Content.”
While that may sound creepy, other social networks do object recognition
on images you upload to power accessibility features (like describing
what’s in an Instagram photo, for example), as well as for ad
targeting purposes. Identifying where a person and the scenery is can
help with AR effects, while converting spoken words to text helps with
features like TikTok’s automatic captions.
The policy also notes this part of the data collection is for enabling
“special video effects, for content moderation, for demographic
classification, for content and ad recommendations, and for other
non-personally-identifying operations,” it says.
The more concerning part of the new section references a plan to collect
biometric data.
It states:
We may collect biometric identifiers and biometric information as
defined under US laws, such as faceprints and voiceprints, from your
User Content. Where required by law, we will seek any required
permissions from you prior to any such collection.
The statement itself is vague, as it doesn’t specify whether it’s
considering federal law, states laws, or both. It also doesn’t
explain, as the other part did, why TikTok needs this data. It doesn’t
define the terms “faceprints” or “voiceprints.” Nor does it
explain how it would go about seeking the “required permissions”
from users, or if it would look to either state or federal laws to guide
that process of gaining consent.
That’s important because as it stands today, only a handful of U.S.
states have biometric privacy laws, including Illinois, Washington,
California, Texas and New York. If TikTok only requested consent,
“where required by law,” it could mean users in other states would
not have to be informed about the data collection.
Reached for comment, a TikTok spokesperson could not offer more details
on the company’s plans for biometric data collection or how it may tie
in to either current or future products.
< - >
https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/03/tiktok-just-gave-itself-permission-to-collect-biometric-data-on-u-s-users-including-faceprints-and-voiceprints/
--
Iw mailing list
[email protected]
http://sticklist.org/mailman/listinfo/iw_sticklist.org
