The enormously popular video-sharing app TikTok has been savaged by the top boss of Reddit in a string of scathing comments about the Chinese app. 

CEO and co-founder of Reddit Steve Huffman called TikTok 'fundamentally parasitic' and urged people not to install 'that spyware on your phone'. 

He also singled out the fingerprint scanning technology the app uses and said it was 'truly terrifying'. 

As the conversation wandered towards TikTok, Mr Huffman vehemently rejected the notion that American start-ups could adopt certain aspects of TikTok's blueprint. 

It comes as market researchers predict TikTok, made by the Chinese firm ByteDance, will surpass ten million users next year in the UK alone.

The damning remarks were made while he was speaking on a panel that also featured former Facebook VP of Product Sam Lessin.