Take a look at the following blog post that looks at TikTok’s encrypted VM and how it profiles you. And this is just on the website, without even installing the app.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34109771

Yep. My point exactly!

Because TikTok is a Chinese company most people just consider the app to by spyware. It's probably not any more spyware than other similar apps, but being owned by China makes it a little more worrisome to some people.

I don’t care where they come from. Why do they force you to signup to see a video that can be played using standard web technology?

And you can’t use TikTok without an account because they need that to “spy” on you.