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Instagram vs TikTok

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. TikTok scores 50 and Instagram 49, so TikTok is 1 point ahead.

49of 100
Instagramcom.instagram.android

version 451.0.0.53.80

50of 100
TikTokcom.zhiliaoapp.musically

version 47.4.3 ahead by 1

Who is ahead on what

The longer bar is the better one on every axis; a score is the mean of its six axes. The arithmetic behind each is on the app's own card.

The six axes

Each axis is one short rule applied to both apps, with the one thing that decided its number underneath.

Security level
Instagram 70 1 security problem found.
TikTok 70 1 security problem found.
Tracking Instagram +22
Instagram 38 5 tracking tools found.
TikTok 16 7 tracking tools found.
Build hygiene level
Instagram 69 The app passes 9 of 13 checks of how well it was built.
TikTok 69 The app passes 9 of 13 checks of how well it was built.
Packaging level
Instagram 100 Unpacked, the base APK is 249 MB; 200 KB of it is unused files.
TikTok 100 Unpacked, the base APK is 176 MB; 223 KB of it is unused files.
Access TikTok +8
Instagram 12 Asks for 8 of 11 kinds of permission; 1 kind of special access.
TikTok 20 Asks for 7 of 11 kinds of permission; 2 kinds of special access.
Background TikTok +20
Instagram 4 Runs 8 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.
TikTok 24 Runs 6 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersInstagram 5 · TikTok 7

The advertising, analytics and attribution SDKs recognised in each app. What only one of them carries is what sets it apart.

Only in Instagram
Facebook FlipperFacebook NotificationsGoogle Analytics
In both
Facebook SDKGoogle AdMob
Only in TikTok
AppsFlyerFacebook ShareFirebase AnalyticsIAB Open MeasurementPangle

Dangerous permissionsInstagram 9 · TikTok 7

The permissions Android asks the user about at run time: the camera, the microphone, the location, the contacts and the like. An app may need one for what it does; asking is not the same as using.

Only in Instagram
READ_CALL_LOGREAD_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATE
In both
ACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_CONTACTSREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGERECORD_AUDIOWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Only in TikTok
ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION

Where this comes from

Both are the apps' public cards: what anyone may know of an app, from its newest public version - one Google Play installed, and out in the world. Each card has the score's lines and the earlier versions: Instagram, TikTok.