Chris TrottierMar 1, 2023

TikTok knows a worrying amount of data about you. Here's what it tracks:

1. Device
2. OS
3. Location
4. Keystroke patterns or rhythms
5. Battery state
6. Audio settings
7. Connected audio devices
8. Objects and scenery in videos
9. Existence and location of face and body
10. Text of words spoken

They can do a lot with that data!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/tiktok-data-collection-privacy-1.6763626

If you use TikTok, the app is collecting a staggering amount of information about you | CBC News

One of the hottest TikTok trends right now seemingly is Western governments banning the immensely popular app from their employees' phones and launching probes into its data collection practices. 

CBC
Show threadScot Close
@atomicpoet How does this compare to other apps?
Mar 1, 2023 at 10:47pmWeb
Show thread“G” 🇨🇦 🇵🇸 🇱🇧Mar 2, 2023
@scotclose @atomicpoet it doesn’t, except that it’s China collecting the data now
Show threadAbhi Beckert 🇺🇦Mar 4, 2023
@scotclose @atomicpoet throughout WWII data collected *before the war for legitimate purposes* was used extensively to do serious harm. A record of you attending a wedding 15 years earlier could get you sent to a concentration camp. After WWII the world made privacy a human right to stop that happening again. But here we are ignoring lessons from the past. How is TikTok different? People are more likely to listen when we complain about their invasion of privacy.
Show threadScot CloseMar 4, 2023
@abhibeckert @atomicpoet Shutting down TikTok will not stop people from collecting data. TikTok is just a symptom. If you want to fix the problem, identify the cause and target that.
Show threadAbhi Beckert 🇺🇦Mar 6, 2023

@scotclose @atomicpoet I don't think we should "shut down” TikTok unless there's evidence they've broken some law, which AFAIK they haven’t? At least not in the US, maybe in the EU they might be in breach of the GDPR.

I believe we can stop data collection especially by widely used products. It's pretty simple - they should be forced to pay for third party audits. If the audits find unnecessary data collection, then they need to change that (or be shut down).

Show threadScot CloseMar 6, 2023
@abhibeckert @atomicpoet I think we should explicitly identify the dangerous things TikTok is doing and ban any product that does them.