Does TikTok Really Record Everything You Copy to IOS?
Apple’s iOS 14 has a nifty new privacy feature that sends you a notification whenever an app checks what’s on your iPhone’s clipboard. This sounds like a smart addition, but it also exposed potentially disturbing behavior in several apps.
Take a look at this example posted by Twitter user Jeremy Burge that shows all the iOS 14 clipboard warnings he received while using TikTok:
Several developers have looked into the issue to understand what’s going on. According to their findings and subsequent Twitter discussions, it looks like these apps only read the clipboard, not grab, copy, or save the data they find there – at least in theory.
There are legitimate reasons the app does this, so I wouldn’t be alarmed if or when you see this notification in your favorite apps.
Some developers have even found that their apps trigger a notification unexpectedly – even if they don’t initially have access to the clipboard – so it’s entirely possible that iOS 14 has new APIs that need to be implemented by the app to prevent excessive notification of unexpected behavior.
However, it makes us wonder how many of these apps secretly access the iOS clipboard, and whether they did the same on Android and older versions of iOS without our knowledge. However, I bet that most people will have one question when they see this notification: Should you be worried that TikTok and other apps might be stealing your clipboard data?
I would say no to TikTok based on what the company said. But I would not extend this universal trust to every application , especially if you tend to mess with unverified, lightly tested applications from unknown developers.
In an ideal world, Apple could customize its notifications to more clearly indicate when an app is scanning your clipboard to see if there is anything in it, rather than when it is actively using information from the clipboard for other purposes. Even then, apps could always access the clipboard without restriction.
At this point, it’s wise to think twice about what you’ve copied to your device’s clipboard before opening or using the app. It might be best not to copy and paste the important details – email address, password, 2FA codes, etc. – if you can avoid it.