Associates at Ropes & Gray recently received a mandate from firm leadership telling them to delete TikTok. It doesn’t matter if it is firm issued or their personal electronics — any device that has access to their firm email has to be rid of the social media app.
In an email to associates, the firm said this mandate came after at least one client request. Last month, it was revealed that TikTok, along with a host of other apps, was snooping on anything on your device’s clipboard — which could include sensitive client information. TikTok, as well as some of the other apps, promised to do away with the practice. However, according to an Ars Technica report, at least TikTok was caught snooping even after they said they’d do away with the practice. So, now Ropes associates can’t have TikTok on their phones.
But though TikTok, with its Chinese ownership and Gen Z fan base, has gotten a lot of headlines over the practice, it is certainly not the only app that employs this security loophole. As of June 30, the following apps still reportedly read the data you have on the clipboard: Fox News, New York Times, Reuters, Vice News, Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Fruit Ninja, Plants v. Ninja Heroes, Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock, Accuweather, Zoosk, and more.
No word yet if any other apps will be banned by Biglaw.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).