Andy IhnatkoDec 22, 2022

As I said this morning on Boston Public Radio: Bytedance's required subservience to China's national intel laws is a worry, sure…but the simple fact that TikTok is a popular social media app makes the company a potential danger in and of itself.

I wish Apple & Google would respond to this egregious abuse by declaring TikTok to be spyware. I wish they'd pull it from app stores until TikTok convinces independent auditors that this kind of thing can't happen again.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2022/12/22/tiktok-tracks-forbes-journalists-bytedance/

EXCLUSIVE: TikTok Spied On Forbes Journalists

ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location using their IP addresses, as first reported by Forbes in October.

Forbes
Show threadChief TWiT 

@ihnatko Yeah I'm afraid I'm going to have to come around on my support for TikTok after this.

I should point out that the same thing is almost certainly happening on Twitter now. And maybe Facebook, too.

Dec 22, 2022 at 10:41pmWeb
Show threadMichael McAllister ♿Dec 22, 2022

@leo @ihnatko Every major social media company does this. Since mass data collection is how they profit, I don't find this news to be all that shocking.

Is this creepy? Yes.
Should companies face repercussions for doing this? Yes.

If people are uncomfortable with their data being collected and tracked, they should consider purchasing a burner/pay-as-you-go phone. Mass surveillance, unfortunately, is part of the world we live in now.

Show threadAndy IhnatkoDec 23, 2022

@ThatMichaelM @leo But there's a BIG difference between the sort of generalized surveillance that monetizes the platform and what happened here.

TikTok can't compel a journalist to name sources who've been promised anonymity. So they tried to determine their identities by examining the journalists' TikTok account data.

This is not exactly outlined in the TOS.

No. This kind of malfeasance demands that TikTok be made to experience what dog trainers describe as A Memorable Corrective Response.

Show threadMichael McAllister ♿Dec 23, 2022

@ihnatko @leo Right. As Leo was saying, this happens already—both in a Big Tech and Big Brother sense.

Anything you send through these services could be tracked by an employee and/or government agency. (Amazon notoriously gives the data it collects over to law enforcement. No warrant required.)

If TikTok is banned, what about the American companies that operate within the Chinese market? They have to comply with Chinese regulations.

Show threadmaddie (MOVED!)   Dec 23, 2022
@ThatMichaelM @leo @ihnatko better yet, do not use tiktok, there's no value in it, it's an app specifically designed to waste as much of your time as possible by getting you addicted.