{"id":1539113,"date":"2022-07-05T07:35:27","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T11:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1539113"},"modified":"2022-07-05T07:35:39","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T11:35:39","slug":"big-tech-should-ban-invasive-tiktok-app-that-mines-personal-data-for-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/big-tech-should-ban-invasive-tiktok-app-that-mines-personal-data-for-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Tech Should Ban Invasive TikTok App That Mines Personal Data For China"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbig-tech-should-ban-invasive-tiktok-app-that-mines-personal-data-for-china%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1539113&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/tiktok-e1656644347536.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Brendan Carr, one of the commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission, is urging U.S. big tech companies to ban the popular Chinese app, TikTok, from their app stores due to data security concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Carr made his case in a letter addressed to Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Carr shared a copy of his letter in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrendanCarrFCC\/status\/1541823585957707776?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tweet<\/a>, stating, \u201cTikTok is not just another video app. That\u2019s the sheep\u2019s clothing. It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing. I\u2019ve called on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Apple\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@Apple<\/a>\u00a0&#038;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Google\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@Google<\/a> to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>TikTok, a popular app for creating short, looping videos, is owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based internet company. Since it debuted in China under the name \u201cDouyin\u201d in 2016, TikTok has experienced phenomenal growth globally. It claims more than 1 billion users worldwide and is especially popular among\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oberlo.com\/blog\/tiktok-statistics#:~:text=Here&#039;s%20a%20summary%20of%20the,App%20Store%20and%20Google%20Play.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">young people<\/a>\u00a0aged 16-24. In the United States, the app is used by about 80 million Americans every month.<\/p>\n<p>TikTok collects an enormous amount of data on its users, including IP addresses, browsing history, and biometric information. According to China\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawfareblog.com\/beijings-new-national-intelligence-law-defense-offense\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">national intelligence law<\/a>, all Chinese tech companies must turn over any data they collect if the government demands it. Researchers have raised\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/08\/04\/what-tiktok-hides-beneath-its-addicting-little-videos-should-scare-you\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">serious privacy and data security concerns<\/a>\u00a0about TikTok for years. <\/p>\n<p>ByteDance claims that U.S. user data is safe because it is stored on U.S. soil, with a backup center in Singapore. ByteDance argues its data centers\u2019 location ensures that neither the company\u2019s Chinese employees nor the Chinese government have access to U.S. user data.<\/p>\n<h2>China Sees Everything<\/h2>\n<p>But a recent\u00a0BuzzFeed News\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/emilybakerwhite\/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a>, based on leaked internal TikTok meetings, shows that ByteDance\u2019s Chinese employees have repeatedly accessed nonpublic U.S. user data. One employee of TikTok\u2019s trust and safety department said in a September 2021 meeting that \u201cEverything is seen in China.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In another leaked phone call, a TikTok director referred to one Beijing-based engineer as a \u201cmaster admin\u201d who \u201chas access to everything.\u201d Meanwhile, TikTok\u2019s U.S. staff \u201cdid not have permission or knowledge of how to access the data on their own.\u201d\u00a0BuzzFeed points to these leaked phone calls as evidence that ByteDance \u201cmay have misled lawmakers, its users, and the public by downplaying that data stored in the US could still be accessed by employees in China.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his letter to Apple and Google, Carr referred to the\u00a0BuzzFeed report as the latest evidence that TikTok \u201cis not what it appears to be on the surface..\u201d Carr stated that TikTok \u201cposes an unacceptable national security risk\u201d due to its data harvesting and Beijing\u2019s \u201cunchecked access\u201d to that data. One analyst has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/xu_xiuzhong\/status\/1282271287872757760\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warned<\/a>\u00a0that the information TikTok collects today might assist China\u2019s intelligence agencies in blackmailing Americans in the future.<\/p>\n<h2>App\u2019s Invasive Mining of Personal Information<\/h2>\n<p>Besides the BuzzFeed report, Carr gave a list of TikTok\u2019s other concerning data practices. For example, in 2019, TikTok paid a $5.7 million fine to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for illegally \u201ccollecting and exposing locations of young children, as well as failing to delete information on underage children when instructed to do so.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In 2020, TikTok\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2020\/03\/12\/simple-apple-security-hack-if-you-have-tiktok-on-your-iphone-look-away-now\/#2154cdf51d61\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a>\u00a0took advantage of an iPhone system loophole, enabling the app to access user data, including passwords and cryptocurrency wallet addresses. A year later, TikTok agreed to pay $92 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the app had transferred a \u201cvast quantity of private and personally identifiable user data\u201d to China.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Carr said these examples were evidence that TikTok\u2019s pattern of conduct and misrepresentation \u201cput it out of compliance\u201d with Apple and Google app stores\u2019 policies that are supposed to protect consumer privacy and safeguard their data. Therefore, he requested both Apple and Google remove TikTok from their app stores. If the companies reject his request, Carr asked them to provide explanations by July 8.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Even More Concerns<\/h2>\n<p>Carr\u2019s letter was powerful, but it didn\u2019t go far enough. Carr only addressed the data security and privacy concerns, but researchers and human rights activists have voiced other concerns about TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>TikTok has applied Beijing\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2019\/sep\/25\/revealed-how-tiktok-censors-videos-that-do-not-please-beijing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censorship<\/a>\u00a0to non-Chinese citizens. For instance, TikTok deleted the account of Feroza Aziz, an American TikTok star, after she posted a video criticizing Beijing\u2019s mass internment of Uyghur Muslims. Only after media outcry did TikTok reinstate Aziz\u2019s account. ByteDance has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspi.org.au\/report\/mapping-more-chinas-tech-giants\">reportedly<\/a> played an active role in condoning the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in China by collaborating \u201cwith public security bureaus across China.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/tiktok-algorithm-video-investigation-11626877477\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">investigative report<\/a>\u00a0by The Wall Street Journal found that TikTok has one of the most powerful algorithms among all social media companies. Some researchers have worried that Beijing would utilize such powerful algorithms to spread its propaganda, influence Americans\u2019 thinking, and shape public opinion in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ben Thompson, a Taiwan-based analyst,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/stratechery.com\/2020\/the-tiktok-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warned<\/a>, \u201cHow much of a leap is it to think that a Party committed to ideological dominance will forever leave a route directly into the hearts and minds of millions of Americans untouched?\u201d An example he gave is that \u201cTikTok could promote a particular candidate or a particular issue in a particular geography, without anyone \u2014 except perhaps the candidate, now indebted to a Chinese company \u2014 knowing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We have already witnessed how TikTok tried to influence public opinion this year. The app\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/08\/opinion\/tiktok-twitter-china-bytedance.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">was full of videos supporting Russia\u2019s narrative<\/a>\u00a0after Russia invaded Ukraine. Given China and Russia\u2019s alliance, such a Chinese and Russia propaganda campaign through a Chinese app shouldn\u2019t be a surprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Many Institutions Ban TikTok<\/h2>\n<p>Given all these concerns about TikTok, Carr\u2019s request of Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores is reasonable and not unprecedented. In 2020, India\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-india-53232486\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">banned<\/a>\u00a0more than 100 Chinese apps, including TikTok, claiming these Chinese apps were \u201cstealing and surreptitiously transmitting user data in an unauthorized manner.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Multiple U.S. military branches\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/us-government-agencies-have-banned-tiktok-app-2020-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">barred<\/a>\u00a0members from downloading the app onto their government-issued smartphones and tablets. Some private businesses, such as Wells Fargo, also blocked their employees from downloading the app onto their company-issued devices.<\/p>\n<p>Former President Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-53622799\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threatened<\/a>\u00a0to ban TikTok in the United States through an executive order, which compelled ByteDance to start negotiating with American companies, including Microsoft and Oracle, about the possibility of divesting some of TikTok\u2019s U.S. operations. However, shortly after President Joe Biden came into office, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/technology-57413227\">revoked<\/a> Trump\u2019s order, and ByteDance quickly shelved its U.S. operation\u2019s divesting plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Biden Administration\u2019s Wrong Approach<\/h2>\n<p>Ignoring the various risks TikTok poses, the Biden administration has chosen to court top TikTok influencers to win support for the administration\u2019s policies. The administration invited\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/08\/10\/tiktok-star-parades-around-white-house-to-boost-vaccines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a TikTok influencer<\/a>\u00a0to the White House to convince younger Americans to get vaccinated, worked with top TikTok influencers to promote Biden\u2019s infrastructure plan last year, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/03\/11\/white-house-briefed-tiktok-influencers-on-ukraine-a-press-briefing-for-kindergartners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">briefed<\/a>\u00a0top influencers on the war in Ukraine this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After Russia invaded Ukraine,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/rt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">RT<\/a>\u00a0America, a Russian state-sponsored network, ceased operation after being\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2022\/03\/rt-america-to-halt-production-and-lay-off-most-staff-after-being-dropped-by-major-u-s-distributors-1234970503\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">banned<\/a>\u00a0by major U.S. distributors. American people ought to ask the Biden administration and our big tech companies: if we don\u2019t think the Russian propaganda machine should operate in the United States, why should we let the Chinese government\u2019s propaganda tool operate unrestrictedly here?<\/p>\n<p>Apple and Google should comply with Carr\u2019s request and remove TikTok from their app store immediately. As for the Biden administration, rather than courting TikTok influencers, it should make ByteDance divest TikTok\u2019s U.S. operation to an American company right away. If ByteDance refuses, the administration must ban TikTok from operating in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As analyst Thompson <a href=\"https:\/\/stratechery.com\/2020\/the-tiktok-war\/\">wrote<\/a>, \u201cIf China is on the offensive against liberalism not only within its borders but within ours, it is in liberalism\u2019s interest to cut off a vector that has taken root precisely because it is so brilliantly engineered to give humans exactly what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Helen Raleigh, CFA, is an American entrepreneur, writer, and speaker. She&#8217;s a senior contributor at The Federalist. Her writings appear in other national media, including The Wall Street Journal and Fox News.  Helen is the author of several books, including &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Confucius-Never-Said-Helen-Raleigh\/dp\/1499185278\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&#038;keywords=Helen+Raleigh+Confucius+Never+Said&#038;qid=1606079469&#038;sr=8-1\">Confucius Never Said<\/a>&#8221; and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Backlash-How-Chinas-Aggression-Backfired\/dp\/1736008501\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&#038;qid=1606006113&#038;sr=8-1\">Backlash: How Communist China&#8217;s Aggression Has Backfired<\/a>.&#8221; Follow her on Parler and Twitter: @HRaleighspeaks.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brendan Carr, one of the commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission, is urging U.S. big tech companies to ban the popular Chinese app, TikTok, from their app stores due to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":536,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1539113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1539113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/536"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1539113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1539113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1539113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1539113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1539113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}