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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’

#52

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.

I would like to know what US laws TikTok has violated first.

Yeah, not to defend Tik-Tok, China, or spyware in general, but it's ironic that nobody has a problem with Google, Facebook, and other American companies tracking everything people do, but when a Chinese company starts doing it, it's suddenly a big problem.

But then again, TikTok probably doesn't answer their subpoenas...

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

#53
post #33

Note: since this tweet/submission, some outlets have written stories about this: https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/10/21320196/amazon-employees... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/technology/tiktok-amazon-...

I'm curious, are these

1. Devices owned by Amazon, for work

2. Personal devices with the amazon email added directly

3. Personal devices with amazon email added on Work profile

Could not find this info in the articles or tweet.

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

#54

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.

They don't have to ban it on "Chinese Spyware" terms, they could just ban it on normal "spyware" terms. The fact that tiktok is Chinese is incidental, and not necessarily an indictment on all Chinese apps.

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

#55
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.

If your job requires it, you will get it. It's been like that for a while now

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

#56

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.

I would like to know what US laws TikTok has violated first.

Does the government have to go through judicial approval to get apps banned from its devices?

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

#57
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"

It's been a while since I've seen employers offer work phones. What I've seen for the last few years is an offer to pay or subsidize a data plan.

If Amazon doesn't provide me a work phone, they can eff right off in attempting to dictate what I put on my phone.

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

#58
post #40
post #29

Does anyone else feel we're suddenly supposed to be anti-China? Is it because of Hong Kong? (Honest question, I have no strong opinion .) Because it feels like after Russia and Muslims now China is the new enemy. Kind of stupid imho. Anyway, the high road would probably be not to ban any apps but to make the operating systems safer..

[flagged]

[deleted]

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

#59
post #5
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'll admit I don't know the specifics beyond what was tweeted. I'm with you though... If an employer wants to manage my device, they can provide the device.

When I worked at Google over 5 years ago, mobile device options for accessing company accounts were a company-provided and company-owned device with a company-paid phone bill, a personal device with company-provided mobile device management (and sometimes cell phone bill expensing if you for example had on-call duties), a personal device with only limited browser-based work account access, and no account access via mobile.

The first of these could sometimes have implications for ownership of personal projects created using the device, which was one of many reasons I picked the second option, but it was absolutely permitted at least for any case where the company cared about you having mobile account access.

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

#60
post #29

Does anyone else feel we're suddenly supposed to be anti-China? Is it because of Hong Kong? (Honest question, I have no strong opinion .) Because it feels like after Russia and Muslims now China is the new enemy. Kind of stupid imho. Anyway, the high road would probably be not to ban any apps but to make the operating systems safer..

China has been an American economic foe for a while. The CCP has stepped up measures and started to push their agenda and censorship globally. They have stepped up their presence in the South China sea and claimed ownership of international waters. They have clamped down on Hong Kong and other provinces, put Muslims in concentration camps using them as slave labor, stealing their organs, shaving their heads and selli…

They have used Belt and Road to expand their influence. They have extended loans and goodwill to bring various countries in Asia and Africa under their influence. They are way more aggressive and assertive than they used to be. Chinese companies and investment firms have been aggressively buying companies throughout the world. The list goes on. Without commenting on the values of it, at the very least it's a challenge to the current world order and we'd expect countries to at least push back a bit. In fact, I was surprised it took over a decade for countries to start pushing back.
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