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India bans TikTok, WeChat, and dozens of other Chinese apps

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Re: India bans TikTok, WeChat, and dozens of other Chinese apps

#531
post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think there was really a point to be missed. If you have a point, go ahead and make it.

Strange, because the question I asked and you didn't answer was pretty clear: "What values does the US share with the UK more than with most other western countries?". My point (implicit, but obvious) is that "values" is a weasel word used to justify power alliances under the pretension of some shared positive ethical trait. For the specific case, I feel that the UK and the US have very different values, as it's easy…

Thanks. I didn't answer because it common for people making a lowest common denominator comment to just pepper you with questions that never land on a final point.

I think your point is interesting. What do you mean by "power alliances" in this context? Do you mean that they're mostly (or entirely) allied for their combined war making power?

For my part, I think the relationship is based on a general understanding that their people are alike in custom, beliefs, traditions, geopolitical place, etc. After all, America is the troubled child of the UK that grew up to dominate the world.

Re: India bans TikTok, WeChat, and dozens of other Chinese apps

#532
post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also bet the Chinese version of TikTok, if it is even allowed in their country, has a completely different content moderation system. They are more than likely promoting degeneracy in our country while promoting their own ideals at home.

You are spreading baseless, racist speculation.

Speculation? Yeah, sure. Baseless? Not really, considering the great firewall and all. Racism? Where?

Re: India bans TikTok, WeChat, and dozens of other Chinese apps

#533
post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like your interests? Your behavior? Your realtime location? Your health issues? Your mood? Any event that is going on in your life? Like someone died, or someone is having a birthday or you are attending a wedding? Oh you have a wedding to attend do you? Here let me show you this ad for gifts that you can purchase at 50% discount. Oh but what about the dress that you need to wear? Here, buy this suit with 20% discoun…

Being on social media is a zero sum game. Either you use these platforms & give up your privacy or don't use them. These companies entire business model is about tracking your life. Aadhaar has data like DOB, PAN, Address, Passport details which can be used for identity theft etc. It's a nightmare once it happens to anyone.

You asked what more does Tiktok (Social media) collect that Aadhaar doesn't already provide through a data breach? My answer was to that question. It has nothing to do with implications of an Aadhaar data breach. If that was your question, I would have answered that specifically.

Now coming to your new point: The details that are taken by Social Media platforms are transferred to third-parties too. And identity theft is not as big a problem as invasive tracking and profiling is. Identity theft happened before Aadhaar existed and will continue to happen whether we have Aadhaar in the future or not.

The former needs someone to actually misuse breached data. The latter is being misused in realtime. And what do you feed these social media companies apart from your realtime data? Your DOB, your address and your phone number. Then they ask you for verification that you are a real person and not a bot. For that you have to hand over your passport/aadhaar/voter ID/PAN or any detail that will confirm your identity and address location! Like I said, you can't even compare the two! Aadhaar is nothing in comparison to what is collected by social media companies and handed over to third-parties like Cambridge Analytica.

And if you think you can dox someone only through Aadhaar then you are so wrong my friend. You can literally dox anyone who has interacted online to some significant degree. Traces of their digital footprint is left every where on the internet to be exploited.

Re: India bans TikTok, WeChat, and dozens of other Chinese apps

#534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The parent comment isn't talking about spyware. Imagine if US.app and China.app were both clean, no spyware. If China subsidizes and allows China.app to have access to their domestic market but bans US.app, while US allows China.app to rake in billions of dollars in revenue in the US - this is purely an economic fairness and global trade issue. There is no sane defensive argument against this. Chinese market is 1.3 b…

Unfair? Unfair to who? Whether I agree with it or not (I don't). China gets to have it's cake and eat it too. Big win for China, wouldn't you say? If everyone else is willing to leave the cake on the table, It's perfectly fair for China to have it if you ask me.

Did you not read anything you're responding to? Your whole comment is senseless in context.

Re: India bans TikTok, WeChat, and dozens of other Chinese apps

#535
I don't wanna sound like "that guy" but we have to take a step back and ask ourselves how we got here. The entire software industry has it's roots in espionage and war, even though the past 30 years have seen a massive expansion of consumer technology that, on the surface, completely removes us from that history. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say. It's a wonder that we have consumer tech for entertainment and enhancing our lives and that we've built vast markets on it. But, we can't forget the fact that our experience on that end of the technology spectrum doesn't negate where and when we fit into a broader timeline spanning generations. If the doers, the technologists and creators forget this, countries like China are going to run roughshod over the United States, and use what they've learned from and about us against us and against democratic ideals abroad. I've been telling people for the past year or more to stop using TikTok and I get mostly snickers or "that's interesting". American hubris leads us to think we'll always be "on top" and that discoveries like this are fundamentally inconsequential. There's larger plays in flux at the geopolitical scale and it'd be a mistake for Americans to ignore it and pretend it's "no big deal." India has it's own reasons to conduct the ban, right or wrong, but American's should really consider following suit, especially as we head into election season and as social unrest and loose ends continue to shape America's future.

Re: India bans TikTok, WeChat, and dozens of other Chinese apps

#536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm from a western country and I know for a fact that homicide rate in US is 6 times worse than China (6/100,000 in US VS Maybe US has some problems on its own...

Even if the quality of these data sources were comparable it still wouldn't be relevant to this conversation. Career criminals killing eachother in major cities has nothing to do with foreign surveillance and human rights.

It has a lot to do with what kind of criminal lobby is in charge

As European I prefer Chinese communists to American warlords that can't stop selling guns to everyone

If you think about it, the "greatest democracy of the World" has homicide rates worse than Nigeria and Congo and is engaged in more wars than any other country.

Can an US citizen really criticize other countries for being fascist?

p.s. the data is good

Re: India bans TikTok, WeChat, and dozens of other Chinese apps

#537
post #514
post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>All American companies move in lockstep. We see one company after another pull out of facebook advertising very quickly last week. They work together as a group with a consistent goal. Sounds like they're moving in lockstep in response to public sentiment. Is that a bad thing?

If American public sentiment wants my country destroyed, then it's a bad thing for my country. Today they don't but who knows about tomorrow? Extremists are taking over and the situation is unfolding in very unpredictable ways.

>If American public sentiment wants my country destroyed, then it's a bad thing for my country.

Might be bad for you, but probably not bad for Americans. The people have spoken and the corporations are doing their bidding. Sounds like what most people want from their government. This as opposed to China, where an autocrat is deciding what to do and enforcing his will onto his subjects. Whether it's ethical or not is besides the point, because otherwise this conversation just devolves into a discussion on the merits of democracy.

Re: India bans TikTok, WeChat, and dozens of other Chinese apps

#540

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm from a western country and I know for a fact that homicide rate in US is 6 times worse than China (6/100,000 in US VS Maybe US has some problems on its own...

Everyone has problems, your comment is off topic and does not enhance the conversation.

> Everyone has problems

But very few countries have homicide rates worse than US and lower life expectancy, despite having the highest spending per capita in health care in the World

So maybe before criticizing, fix your own problems.

Assuming you can.

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