TikTok's User Data and Ban Threats Remain in the Spotlight.

Despite being banned in India in 2020, TikTok and ByteDance employees can still access and mine sensitive data of Indian users, according to an internal tool reviewed by Forbes. The tool can retrieve granular data about past TikTok users in India, including their closest connections, personally identifiable information, and search behavior. The data in the tool appears to be frozen in time for Indian users, but updates in real-time for other countries. The revelation raises concerns about data privacy and national security, especially in the context of geopolitical conflict.