ByteDance used TikTok to track my location — and the locations of two of my colleagues — to try to find our sources. We reported on this back in October, but kept things vague to protect sources. Today ByteDance admitted it, so we can say much more:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2022/12/22/tiktok-tracks-forbes-journalists-bytedance/
@ValkyrieKerry @ebakerwhite It's not about making videos, it's a result of having the app installed on your phone.
Disabling location services for the app would probably help a bit, but developers have lots of ways of backing out your location and other personal info once they have an app on your phone. And most users are bad about ignoring privilege-request popups.
General rule: Do not install apps on your phone unless you trust the developers/owners of that app.
Emily Baker-White
ValkyrieKerry 
Kadin