TikTok user? This might make you think again
Vulnerability
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For a long time, TikTok has come under constant scrutiny over the amount of data it captures when installed on a mobile phone. Given it is owned by Chinese based parent company ByteDance, and if you also consider the furore around Huawei being part of the critical 5g infrastructure in the UK, then it surely makes sense to err on the side of caution given China’s reputation when it comes to privacy.
However, with in excess of one billion accounts, the platform has become one of the most used in the world, with it’s users more concerned about the frequency of content being uploaded rather than the security controls that that are supposed to offer the owner of such content. The article below from Sky News is an interesting read.
The argument concerning privacy relating to social media content is by no means new. If you consider Facebook’s somewhat lacklustre and cavalier approach to information security, then it’s easy to understand the concern with TikTok. However, it seems very much that the concerns around information security are being disregarded in the quest for followers, likes, and a constant need to stand out from the crowd by curating content more “appealing” to a wider audience.
But at what cost? Are we really willing to trade our own souls in terms of security in the search for the social media holy grail, and the need to be popular? As a privacy advocate, I will never quite understand the appeal.
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For a long time, TikTok has come under constant scrutiny over the amount of data it captures when installed on a mobile phone. Given it is owned by Chinese based parent company ByteDance, and if you also consider the furore around Huawei being part of the critical 5g infrastructure in the UK, then it surely makes sense to err on the side of caution given China’s reputation when it comes to privacy.
However, with in excess of one billion accounts, the platform has become one of the most used in the world, with it’s users more concerned about the frequency of content being uploaded rather than the security controls that that are supposed to offer the owner of such content. The article below from Sky News is an interesting read.
The argument concerning privacy relating to social media content is by no means new. If you consider Facebook’s somewhat lacklustre and cavalier approach to information security, then it’s easy to understand the concern with TikTok. However, it seems very much that the concerns around information security are being disregarded in the quest for followers, likes, and a constant need to stand out from the crowd by curating content more “appealing” to a wider audience.
But at what cost? Are we really willing to trade our own souls in terms of security in the search for the social media holy grail, and the need to be popular? As a privacy advocate, I will never quite understand the appeal.
@phenomlab I think they are after TikTok only because of its relation to China… Because I do not see much difference between Facebook (Instagram/Whatsapp), Google, Microsoft, or Tiktok… ( I still believe Apple is different than these companies since it does not have ad revenue. )
And thanks to Snowden, we have seen what intelligence agencies (NSA
) are trying to do…But not much is changing in the world… I think we are slowly evolving into a world that is run by companies rather than governments…
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@phenomlab I think they are after TikTok only because of its relation to China… Because I do not see much difference between Facebook (Instagram/Whatsapp), Google, Microsoft, or Tiktok… ( I still believe Apple is different than these companies since it does not have ad revenue. )
And thanks to Snowden, we have seen what intelligence agencies (NSA
) are trying to do…But not much is changing in the world… I think we are slowly evolving into a world that is run by companies rather than governments…
@crazycells Good comments - specifically around being run by companies rather than governments. You’re probably right about going after TikTok because of it’s relation to China - and you are definitely right about Facebook et al not being any different in the sense that they all scrape data from the user in one way or another - some (example, Facebook) take much more than they should.
Microsoft in terms of privacy is no better either.
My personal thoughts are that if it hadn’t been for Snowden, the world would be blissfully unaware of the actions that the NSA and other intelligence agencies engage in to obtain data pertaining to individuals. However, even with this stark warning, the risks are being ignored.
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And in today’s news, the UK government has banned TikTok on all supplied devices
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The app is bad news, so glad I I used it a few times and deleted it.
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@JAC agreed. Never been a fan, and never will be.
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