This wasn't a problem until it was done by a Chinese company, when American companies (Meta, X, Google, etc.) spied on us we saw it as a triumph of entrepreneurism.
> TikTok's pixel is years old, but it just shifted in some major ways. On 22 January 2026, when TikTok's US operation officially changed hands, users had to agree to a new set of data collection practices. That includes a new advertising network that TikTok will use to show targeted ads on other people's websites. To facilitate that new advertising system, TikTok updated its pixel.
> In the past, TikTok's pixel basically just told companies if their ads were generating sales in the app itself. Now, the pixel will help companies follow users who see an ad when they leave TikTok and make a purchase elsewhere.
So what you've said is not only wrong, it's the total opposite of what's happened. Under Chinese control, it was less invasive than it is now.
Me too. I'm a privacy warrior like yourself. But they do have a point. The Facebook pixel is decades old. This seems to be getting more traction than that did.
I think the FB pixel caused significant industry change, though. For instance, ad blockers became, well, not ubiquitous but incredibly common. Safari started doing great stuff with limiting third party cookies. Email apps started letting you opt out of loading images. A cottage industry of things like Pi-Hole popped up deter tracking at the LAN level. As a whole, tech added a gazillion ways to make Facebook’s tracking less effective.
