Google has been trying to build their own little silo (and used all sorts of dirty tricks in past also) for things with AMP and ads and stuff for a while. So this just sounds a bit bizarre.
Does Google collect user data using tactics banned by Google?
Not good of them, but doesn't seem like a national security threat either..
I haven't used TikTok much but the material there seems quite innocuous so I don't see how Chinese government access to data from it is a serious threat. There seems to be a lot more potentially embarrassing material posted to FB & Twitter, and I suspect the Chinese government & others are scooping up what they can, at least what's posted publicly.
Is anyone really surprised by this? I guess the people who use tiktok won't care though.
tl;dr: TikTok exploited an android security hole to collect MAC addresses likely for targeted advertising.
I've worked in advertising and ad-click networks for over 9 years, and it's funny to read "Banned by Google"... Google supported the most scummiest of advertising/ tracking tactics themselves, that is until someone else started doing it.