I have TikTok installed on my iPhone — I have no account and scroll through it a bit every day until screen time tells me to stop.

It has no access to my location, microphone, or camera. I type nothing into the app. I’m not sure how this could be spyware... Perhaps they track you when you use the app more heavily, but their big new competitor, Byte (created by the Vine founders), requires you to log in to even view a video.

I recall seeing a documentary where who was most probably the creator reddit claimed reddit to know about the things the users don't necessarily share with anyone else though their behavior on the site, but ok

first thought came to my mind is competition.