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Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

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Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#11

Sorry if I missed something obvious, but if we're at the point where the U.S. government is even contemplating banning TikTok, how come it's on Google and Apple stores at this point? They seem to be at least somewhat vigilant about spyware etc.

1. Because the app stores don't serve a single country.

2. People don't use the app store at the pleasure of the US government.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#12

Sorry if I missed something obvious, but if we're at the point where the U.S. government is even contemplating banning TikTok, how come it's on Google and Apple stores at this point? They seem to be at least somewhat vigilant about spyware etc.

China is Apple's second largest market. They are not removing it from the US App Store unless they are legally obligated to do so.

They have no reason to add wood to that fire. Apple's best bet right now with this particular issue is to play neutrality.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#13

Sorry if I missed something obvious, but if we're at the point where the U.S. government is even contemplating banning TikTok, how come it's on Google and Apple stores at this point? They seem to be at least somewhat vigilant about spyware etc.

tiktok is controlled by CCP, don't you know that?

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#14
post #7

I assume they won't be doing that to the main-stream spyware pushed by US companies.

Which ones and what is your threat model?

The threat model of the US government, or a US company spying on a US citizen is, to the citizen, about as harmful as the Chinese government spying on them.

Actually moreso, in the case of the US government.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#15

Sorry if I missed something obvious, but if we're at the point where the U.S. government is even contemplating banning TikTok, how come it's on Google and Apple stores at this point? They seem to be at least somewhat vigilant about spyware etc.

1. Because the app stores don't serve a single country. 2. People don't use the app store at the pleasure of the US government.

Forget countries and governments. Don't they serve the users, at least to some extent? Forgetting the political issues, there have been multiple spyware scandals here, right? Or did I get the wrong idea?

Of course these companies have selfish corporate interests, but I've seen both of these companies show at least _some_ level of care for their users. Even if it's part of keeping up appearances out of concern for their corporate interests.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#16

Sorry if I missed something obvious, but if we're at the point where the U.S. government is even contemplating banning TikTok, how come it's on Google and Apple stores at this point? They seem to be at least somewhat vigilant about spyware etc.

China is Apple's second largest market. They are not removing it from the US App Store unless they are legally obligated to do so. They have no reason to add wood to that fire. Apple's best bet right now with this particular issue is to play neutrality.

This answer makes sense, thank you.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#17

Sorry if I missed something obvious, but if we're at the point where the U.S. government is even contemplating banning TikTok, how come it's on Google and Apple stores at this point? They seem to be at least somewhat vigilant about spyware etc.

Apple earns a lot of money from China, so difficult for them to do something which irritates the Chinese government.

Google behaves the same way, even though they have no income from China right now, but I think they are secretly hopefully of dragonfly.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#18

Sorry if I missed something obvious, but if we're at the point where the U.S. government is even contemplating banning TikTok, how come it's on Google and Apple stores at this point? They seem to be at least somewhat vigilant about spyware etc.

From what I read, I think the issue is people keep claiming it does all this various "spyware" stuff, when it sounds like it's doing nothing that any other app could do, given the (what appear to be) lax permissions of android/ios.

If people are so worried about what tiktok can be gathering outside of the app, that is a problem for apple & google.

For this, I think it's 100% overblown what people think tiktok is doing. It just doesn't make sense. If it was really some kind of massive spyware, I agree apple/google would be all over this.. but they aren't.

This comes down to a lack of trust in China obviously, and I don't think there's anything really more concrete than that.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#19

Sorry if I missed something obvious, but if we're at the point where the U.S. government is even contemplating banning TikTok, how come it's on Google and Apple stores at this point? They seem to be at least somewhat vigilant about spyware etc.

1. Because the app stores don't serve a single country. 2. People don't use the app store at the pleasure of the US government.

> 1. Because the app stores don't serve a single country.

There are country-specific Apple app stores and apps that are only available in some countries

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#20
post #4
post #2

I'm more surprised Amazon (or any company, really) employees using an employer-managed device would have TikTok on them to start with, to be honest. As the follow-up tweet says: "Completely independent of the specifics in this instance: get a second device before installing an employer's config profile on your personal device"

Does Amazon provide company phones or just install an MDM profile on your personal phone? I have TikTok installed on my phone, and if my employer said I had to remove it to access my work email, I'd ask them to buy me a work phone. It seems a bit ridiculous that they'd want to control what apps you download on your personal device without providing an alternative.

Microsoft does the latter, so it wouldn't surprise me if Amazon does likewise.
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