Is TikTok a Chinese Cambridge Analytica data bomb waiting to explode?

guest · May 11, 2019

Is TikTok a Chinese Cambridge Analytica data bomb waiting to explode?
May 7, 2019
https://qz.com/1613020/tiktok-might-be-a-chinese-cambridge-analytica-scale-privacy-threat/

[...] I dug into its privacy policy and its recent revisions. If you joined TikTok before 2019, what I found should worry you.
I’m getting used to grilling companies about their data practices. In 2017, I sued Cambridge Analytica.

In February 2019 [...] shortly after its $5.7 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for violating the US child privacy law [...]
Their new privacy policy reflects the splintering of data-protection regimes around the globe, offering different policies depending on the jurisdiction of TikTok users. [...] I could not find any language that clearly specified whether or not user data would be transferred to or accessible from China. I decided to ask them.
What about before February 2019?
I asked if he could confirm this statement, which I drafted to attempt to distill the key concern:

“Data from TikTok users who joined the service before February 2019 may have been processed in China. ByteDance has since reorganized its structure and operations to prevent user data from flowing into China.”
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They confirmed that my statement was accurate but wanted to clarify:

“… there’s a difference between data being physically processed in China and data being processed by systems designed and operated by one of our China registered entities. As a general practice, TikTok is not a service offered in China and as a result there has not been personal and un-aggregated data physically processed there.”
The company responded to my concerns with an inscrutable combination of yes, no, and maybe.

Does their answer mean that ByteDance entities in China are now accessing US-based servers and processing the data here? Is this how they firewall TikTok from the Chinese government?
The FTC penalties appear to have forced the maker of Douyin and TikTok to reorganize its privacy policies around the delicate dance of data sovereignty.

If lawmakers on Capitol Hill knew that their children’s TikTok data may have been flowing right into China, I bet they’d worry about it as much as I do.
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guest · Jul 2, 2019

TikTok under investigation over child data use
UK inquiry looking at whether video-sharing app breaches data protection law
July 2, 2019
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/02/tiktok-under-investigation-over-child-data-use

The video-sharing app TikTok is under investigation in the UK for how it handles the personal data of its young users, and whether it prioritises the safety of children on its social network.

Elizabeth Denham, the information commissioner, told a parliamentary committee the investigation began in February, prompted by a multimillion-dollar fine from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for similar violations.
“We’re looking at the messaging system, which is completely open, we’re looking at the kind of videos that are collected and shared by children online. We do have an active investigation into TikTok right now, so watch this space.”

[...] Bytedance, the Chinese firm that owns TikTok [...] A company can be fined up to €20m (£17.9m), or 4% of revenue, whichever is higher, for violating the GDPR. As a private company, Bytedance does not have to disclose revenue so it is unknown how high such a fine could be.
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ronjor · Jul 13, 2019

TikTok Stars Are Preparing to Take Over the Internet

Taylor Lorenz Jul 12, 2019
TikTok, which boomed in China before entering the U.S. market in August, allows users to upload and edit 15-second videos, usually set to catchy music or voice-overs. The videos are fun and silly, and watching them feels like taking a break from the broader, toxic world of social media. In one video, a teen does a viral dance with traffic cones fitted to his legs. In another, a stream of puppies tumble over one another to the beat of an EDM song. Less than a year after its U.S. launch, the platform is poised to dominate the American social-media landscape and upend the creator ecosystem.
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guest · Jul 13, 2019

Extremely popular in Asia, and indeed you can see vids of all sorts... Imaging it like a video instagram, you have followers, etc...

ronjor · Jul 13, 2019

On TikTok, Teens Meme the Safety App Ruining Their Summer

Louise Matsakis 07.12.19
Spend enough time on the social media app TikTok, and you’re bound to see a Life360 meme. That’s because Life360, a location-sharing app aimed at families, is apparently ruining the lives of teenagers all across the United States. The service allows parents to track their kids’ whereabouts in real time, among other features. As one girl with long, blond hair jokes in a popular TikTok clip, it’s set her summer vacation on fire. Some of the videos have racked up hundreds of thousands of likes—in other words, they’re relatable.
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guest · Jul 24, 2019

China's ByteDance plans to set up data center in India
July 22, 2019
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-to-set-up-data-center-in-india-idUSKCN1UH1BD

China’s ByteDance said it plans to open a data center in India, where it is facing concerns about consumer privacy and demands for a ban on its hugely popular video app TikTok.

India’s Ministry Of Information and Technology has asked the Chinese company to explain how it collects user data and creates awareness for safe use of its platform, while several Indian lawmakers have raised concerns about content on TikTok.

ByteDance said in a blog posted on its website on Sunday that it was taking “a significant step towards establishing a data center in India,” as the country frames a data protection law.
ByteDance’s TikTok and Helo apps have so far stored Indian users’ data in the United States and Singapore.
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ByteDance: ByteDance Announces Plans to Establish India Data Centre

ZDNet: TikTok opens Indian data centre in wake of accusations of hosting pornographers and sexual predators

guest · Aug 29, 2019

Is TikTok a time bomb?
August 28, 2019
https://www.fastcompany.com/90395898/is-tiktok-a-time-bomb

Since January, it has consistently ranked among the top three most downloaded apps, behind Facebook-owned duo WhatsApp and Messenger. The average user now spends around 45 minutes a day on TikTok, more time than they even spend on Facebook.
Beneath the surface, however, the picture is more complex. In its meteoric rise and its approach to leveraging user data, TikTok may augur the AI-informed future of social media, for better and for worse.

While ads have brought TikTok exposure, its groundbreaking AI is what keeps users hanging around. According to Bloomberg, “Within a day, the app can get to know you so well it feels like it’s reading your mind.” [...]
Rather, TikTok is like Toutiao in that it harvests insights based on what its users actually click on, read, and watch—right down to the type of music, faces, and voices in videos—learning as it goes. The distinction is subtle but important.

But TikTok’s ascent comes at a moment when user privacy and the weaponization of data has been thrust into the spotlight.
But what is clear is that with the rise of TikTok, the clock is ticking. AI and user data are converging in complex and sometimes unpredictable ways. Will we as users be able to keep pace?
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guest · Oct 24, 2019

Lawmakers ask US intelligence chief to investigate if TikTok is a national security threat
October 24, 2019
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/24/tiktok-lamakers-national-security-threat/

Two lawmakers have asked the government’s most senior U.S. intelligence official to assess if video sharing app TikTok could pose “national security risks” to the United States.

In a letter by Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Cotton (R-AR), the lawmakers asked the acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire if the app maker could be compelled to turn Americans’ data over to the Chinese authorities. [...] — such as location data, cookies, metadata and more — even if it’s stored on servers it owns in the United States.
Both Schumer and Cotton warn that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is “still required to adhere” to Chinese law.

[...] the letter, dated Wednesday [...]
The senators also said they are concerned that the app was censoring content “deemed politically sensitive” to Beijing.
When reached, a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence would not comment.
TikTok said it was “carefully reviewing” the letter.
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guest · Oct 27, 2019

TikTok, Under Scrutiny, Distances Itself From China
October 25, 2019
https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-under-scrutiny-china/

TikTok, the app that revolves around sharing short video clips, is in a unique position. It’s arguably the first international social media platform to have built a massive audience in the United States, where it’s been downloaded more than 110 million times since its founding in 2017.

It wasn’t the first time this month that lawmakers have questioned the security and content moderation practices of TikTok.
TikTok responded to the questions raised by all three senators in an unsigned blog post published Thursday. The company asserts data on US users is stored in the United States, and that it isn’t subject to Chinese law. It also said that it doesn’t remove content “based on sensitivities to China.”

In its statement, TikTok also said it “doesn’t operate in China,” and doesn’t intend to do so in the future. But it doesn’t need to. The company didn’t mention that ByteDance already owns the extremely popular Chinese version of TikTok, called Douyin.
Despite TikTok’s efforts, the company’s ties to China will almost certainly continue to be viewed with suspicion, not only by regulators but also by users.
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TikTok: Statement on TikTok's content moderation and data security practices

hawki · Nov 1, 2019

"U.S. opens national security investigation into TikTok

NEW YORK/BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co’s $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly, [Musical.ly became TikTok after merger]

While the $1 billion acquisition was completed two years ago, U.S. lawmakers have been calling in recent weeks for a national security probe into TikTok, concerned the Chinese company may be censoring politically sensitive content, and raising questions about how it stores personal data...

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews deals by foreign acquirers for potential national security risks, has started to review the Musical.ly deal, the sources said..."
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...vestigation-into-tiktok-sources-idUSKBN1XB4IL

guest · Nov 4, 2019

TikTok declines to testify to Congress about China, in move that threatens to stoke lawmakers’ ire
November 4, 2019
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tech...hina-move-that-threatens-stoke-lawmakers-ire/

Executives from the Chinese-owned video app TikTok have declined to testify at a congressional hearing set for Tuesday that aims to explore the tech industry and its ties to China, a move that threatens to worsen the social-media company’s woes in Washington at a moment when it’s under investigation.
The decision by TikTok not to attend as of Sunday night was confirmed by a source familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it on the record. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment. A Hawley spokesperson declined to comment.

Congressional lawmakers have grown increasingly concerned about TikTok’s handling of controversial political content and its approach to privacy. Their fears stem from the fact that TikTok is owned by China-based company ByteDance that must censor its services in that country in conformance with the government’s strict censorship demands. ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

TikTok has become one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world, downloaded more than 1.3 billion times around the world, 120 million of those in the United States.
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guest · Nov 21, 2019

Army's Use of TikTok App Raises Concerns on Capitol Hill
November 20, 2019
https://www.securityweek.com/armys-use-tiktok-app-raises-concerns-capitol-hill

The Army's use of a China-owned video app called TikTok as part of a new campaign to recruit young people into the service is raising concerns on Capitol Hill.

"While I recognize that the Army must adapt its recruiting techniques in order to attract young Americans to serve, I urge you to assess the potential national security risks posed by China-owned technology companies before choosing to utilize certain platforms," Schumer, D-N.Y., said in the letter.
His comments came in the wake of broader U.S. interest in TikTok, which is used by millions of young adults and teenagers.

Lt. Col. Audricia Harris, a spokeswoman for McCarthy, said Tuesday that the Army is aware of the TikTok concerns.
The issue has also been raised as a wider concern for Defense Department personnel. Lt. Col. Uriah Orland, a Pentagon spokesman [...]

"Threats posed by social media are not unique to TikTok, though they may certainly be greater on that platform, and DoD personnel must be cautious when making any public or social media post," he said.
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guest · Nov 27, 2019

Report: ByteDance Isolating TikTok From Rest of Chinese Operations Over Espionage Concerns
November 27, 2019
https://gizmodo.com/report-bytedance-isolating-tiktok-from-rest-of-chinese-1840072191

China’s ByteDance, owner of wildly popular (and often deeply annoying) music app TikTok, has moved to segregate much of the app’s operations from the rest of its business in a bid to convince the U.S. government user data is safe from the prying eyes of Chinese spies, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, the company hopes to reassure the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) that user data is safe from the Chinese government in order to avoid the fate of Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd, which the committee compelled to agree to divest gay dating app Grindr in May 2019.

The fear goes [...] that due to the lack of privacy protections in China all the nation’s security services need to do is ask and they will suddenly be granted access to all of that information.
According to Reuters, a source said that steps ByteDance has taken include separating TikTok’s “product and business development, marketing and legal teams from those of its Chinese social media app Douyin” earlier this year.

Furthermore, it is hiring more U.S. engineers to work on TikTok and creating a data management oversight team in Mountain View, California, sources told Reuters.
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Reuters: Exclusive: China's ByteDance moves to ringfence its TikTok app amid U.S. probe - sources

guest · Dec 3, 2019

TikTok sent US user data to China, lawsuit claims
December 3, 2019
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50640110

TikTok, which is thought to have about half a billion active users worldwide, has previously said it does not store US data on Chinese servers.
The lawsuit filed in a Californian court last week claims TikTok "clandestinely... vacuumed up and transferred to servers in China vast quantities of private and personally-identifiable user data".

It alleges the data could be used to identify, profile and track users in the US "now and in the future".
The data was sent to two servers in China, backed by Tencent and Alibaba.

The lawsuit also argues TikTok unfairly profits from "secret harvesting" of private data by using that data to derive "vast targeted-advertising revenues and profits".
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guest · Dec 5, 2019

TikTok settles children’s data lawsuit one day after it was filed
That was quick
December 5, 2019
https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/5/...ically-lawsuit-coppa-settlement-children-data

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, reached a settlement on Wednesday with a group of parents who alleged that the company collected and exposed the data and personal information of minors, in violation of the children’s privacy law.

The plaintiff’s lawyer in the case, Gary Klinger, declined to comment about the details of the settlement with TikTok, but confirmed to The Verge that one had been reached. In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson said that the company disputed many of the complaint’s claims, but had reached a “resolution.”

“TikTok is firmly committed to safeguarding the data of its users, especially our younger users,” a TikTok spokesperson told The Verge. “Although we disagree with much of what is alleged in the complaint, we have been working with the parties involved and are pleased to have come to a resolution of the issues.”
TikTok also declined to give details of the settlement.
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zapjb · Dec 5, 2019

To answer the original question. Yes.

guest · Dec 21, 2019

TikTok’s national security scrutiny tightens as U.S. Navy reportedly bans popular social app
December 21, 2019
https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/21/t...-u-s-navy-reportedly-bans-popular-social-app/

The latest, according to a notice published by the U.S. Navy this past week and reported on by Reuters and the South China Morning Post, is that TikTok will no longer be allowed to be installed on service members’ devices, or they may face expulsion from the military service’s intranet.

It’s just the latest example of the challenges facing the extremely popular app. Recently, Congress led by Missouri senator Josh Hawley demanded a national security review of TikTok and its Sequoia-backed parent company ByteDance, along with other tech companies that may share data with foreign governments like China.
The intensity of criticism on both sides of the Pacific has made it increasingly challenging to manage tech companies across the divide.

While the trade fight between China and the U.S. continues, the damage will continue to fall on companies that fail to draw within the lines set by policymakers in both countries. Whether any tech company can bridge that divide in the future unfortunately remains to be seen.
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guest · Dec 23, 2019

TikTok’s headquarters could move outside China
December 23, 2019
https://nypost.com/2019/12/23/tiktoks-headquarters-could-move-outside-china/

TikTok’s parent company is looking to move its headquarters outside of China amid rising global security concerns about the popular video-sharing app.

Senior executives at Beijing-based ByteDance are considering Singapore as a potential landing spot, as well as London and Dublin. There are no American cities in the running, according to the report.
ByteDance has denied that China’s government has a say over its content or power over its data, although there have been reports that TikTok staffers have been asked to remove content that offends Beijing.
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guest · Dec 24, 2019

ByteDance has no sale plans for TikTok, media report untrue - internal note
December 24, 2019
https://in.reuters.com/article/byte...dia-report-untrue-internal-note-idINKBN1YS08T

Chinese social media firm ByteDance has no plans to sell part or all of its TikTok app, the short video platform’s head said on Tuesday, denying a media report which said the company was currently weighing options to do so due to U.S. concerns.

“From time to time you may read stories in the media that are not true. Today there is an inaccurate report claiming that ByteDance has considered selling part or all of TikTok,” Alex Zhu said in an internal company note seen by Reuters.
A ByteDance spokeswoman declined to comment on the internal note but reiterated that there had “been no discussions about any partial or full sale of TikTok”.
“These rumours are completely meritless,” she added.
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guest · Dec 31, 2019

mood said: ↑

TikTok’s national security scrutiny tightens as U.S. Navy reportedly bans popular social app
December 21, 2019
https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/21/t...-u-s-navy-reportedly-bans-popular-social-app/
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US Army bans soldiers from using TikTok
The app is considered a “cyber threat”
December 31, 2019
https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/31/21044559/us-army-bans-soldiers-from-using-tiktok

United States Army soldiers can no longer use TikTok on government-owned phones following a decision to ban the app. The move comes amidst ongoing worries that the video app owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance could compromise national security or be used to influence or surveil Americans.

“It is considered a cyber threat,” Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Robin Ochoa told Military.com, which broke the news on December 30th. The army reportedly used TikTok to recruit members prior to the ban.
Both the Navy and Defense Department sounded alarms on TikTok earlier this month.
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guest · Jan 1, 2020

TikTok claims zero takedown requests from China in first transparency report
The highest number of requests came from India and the US
December 31, 2019
https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/31...rency-report-bytedance-takedown-requests-zero

TikTok released its first transparency report yesterday, showing which countries have submitted requests for content removal as well as access to user data. China is notably absent from the report—the video sharing app, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, claims it did not receive a single takedown request from Communist Party of China in the first half of 2019.

“TikTok is committed to assisting law enforcement in appropriate circumstances while at the same time respecting the privacy and rights of our users,” Eric Ebenstein, TikTok’s head of public policy, wrote in a blog post.
The US submitted the second highest number of overall requests, beat out only by India, which submitted 107 requests for user data and 11 requests for content takedowns. That’s likely because TikTok is wildly popular in both countries. It could also explain why China isn’t in the report, since the app doesn’t operate there. The Chinese version of the app, which runs as a separate organization, is called Douyin.
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guest · Jan 3, 2020

mood said: ↑

TikTok claims zero takedown requests from China in first transparency report
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TikTok's First Transparency Report Doesn't Tell the Full Story
The app says it didn’t receive any requests for user information from China during the first half of 2019
January 3, 2020
https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-first-transparency-report/

Facing growing scrutiny over censorship and security concerns, TikTok is borrowing a few pages from a playbook now standard at many American tech giants, in an effort to earn the trust of US users and lawmakers.

TikTok’s transparency report shows that from January 1 to June 30 of 2019, the platform received no takedown or user information requests from China, where the app isn’t available, but where its parent organization is headquartered. That isn’t necessarily surprising: Facebook, which also isn’t available in China, also received zero requests from Beijing during the same time frame, according to its own transparency report. Google similarly reported receiving no requests [...]

TikTok’s transparency report covers a relatively small number of cases, especially given the app’s large user base. The country with the largest number of government requests for user information, at 107, was India, where TikTok reportedly has hundreds of millions of users.
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TikTok’s transparency report will likely be a useful tool as it continues to court American officials.

Alex Zhu, TikTok’s chief executive, is expected to make a trip to Washington to meet with members of Congress, after postponing one planned tour last month. The company told The Washington Post at the time that it wanted to “ensure these conversations are as productive as possible.” Zhu now has something more to show lawmakers about how his company handles users’ information, but it’s not clear whether TikTok’s transparency efforts will be enough to convince them that it can be trusted.
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guest · Jan 8, 2020

TikTok Changes Content Rules
January 8, 2020
https://www.cdrinfo.com/d7/content/tiktok-changes-content-rules

TikTok on Wednesday released detailed rules about the videos it permits and prohibits, seeking to respond to concerns that its policies to protect users.

The updated guidelines outline a total of 10 categories of videos that aren’t allowed on the Chinese-owned social media app, including those that glorify terrorism, show illegal drug use, feature violent, graphic or dangerous content or seek to peddle misinformation that’s designed to deceive the public in an election, the company said.
However, the huge popularity of the app has raised quastions about how exactly the company enforced those rules.

“We’re committed to being transparent about the ways we maintain the app experience users expect while providing the protections they deserve,” Lavanya Mahendran and Nasser Alsherif, who lead global trust and safety at TikTok, wrote in a blog post.
Company executives said that the new rules would be applied globally but that they would also “localize and implement” them “in accordance with local laws and norms,” raising questions about how they ultimately might be enforced around the world.
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TikTok: Adding clarity to our Community Guidelines

guest · Feb 24, 2020

TSA bans employees from making TikTok videos
A number of government organizations have now clamped down on the app
February 23, 2020
https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/24/tsa-ban-employees-tiktok-security/

The Transport Security Administration (TSA) is the latest US government organization to ban the use of TikTok. The decision comes after New York Senator Chuck Schumer sent a letter to TSA administrator David Pekoske, in which he flagged a number of security concerns about China-owned app.

In a statement, Schumer said, "These videos sure do make you chuckle; they're creative. But China might be laughing at these TSA postings for very different reasons, and that should concern us and it's why I am urging the TSA to find a different platform, and cease its use of TikTok now."
The move follows similar decisions by other government organizations concerned about security threats associated with the app.
Since then, the US Army, Marines, Navy, and subsequently the Air Force and Coast Guard have all confirmed hard line restrictions on the app.
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guest · Feb 27, 2020

Reddit's CEO explosively described TikTok as 'parasitic' and 'spyware'
February 27, 2020
https://markets.businessinsider.com...an-says-tiktok-is-parasitic-2020-2-1028945096

The CEO of Reddit slammed TikTok, the short-form video app that has taken Generation Z by storm, at an event on Wednesday.

TikTok is the newest big challenge to big American social media companies like Facebook, and is owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance. Per TechCrunch, Huffman disputed whether Silicon Valley had anything it could learn from TikTok.

"Because I look at that app as so fundamentally parasitic, that it's always listening, the fingerprinting technology they use is truly terrifying, and I could not bring myself to install an app like that on my phone."
TikTok was not immediately available for comment on Huffman's remarks when contacted by Business Insider. In an October blog post, it said it stored US user data from TikTok in the US.
Huffman is one of the few voices in Silicon Valley to condemn TikTok in such strong terms.
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