When Forbes tech reporter Emily Baker-White found out last year that ByteDance, the controversial China-based firm that runs the video-sharing platform TikTok, had used the app to track her whereabouts as she covered the company, she knew she was on to a major story. And she was worried — but not necessarily about herself. The “theory” behind the tracking, she says, was to cross-reference her locations with those of TikTok employees to see who might be talking to her.

“During this saga, I have not ever feared for my physical safety. I have not ever been really afraid of the company [or] the Chinese government coming after me,” says Baker-White, who has reported extensively on whether TikTok’s “access to information about, and ability to influence, millions of U.S. citizens” is a national security risk. “But I know that there are [sources] I’ve spoken to who do have those fears.”

Baker-White is right to be concerned.