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TikTok shares your data more than any other app and it’s unclear where it goes

cnbc.com

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Re: TikTok shares your data more than any other app and it’s unclear where it goes

#341

Post by jiux »

ncpa-cpl wrote: post #110
Etheryte wrote: post #36

One thing that I found very interesting when I looked into what TikTok does: it's scary good at aggregating data about you. I live in a foreign country, my phone's network is behind a VPN to a different foreign country and I gave the app no extra permissions, yet somehow I still got recommended content from the country where I was born. Since it's a small country there's no way that's a coincidence. I'm both intrigue…

I think they use the SIM card country ID and also the ad audience categories to suggest content. For example swapping the SIM card with a fresh installation of TikTok shows different "local" videos. Even if the public IP address is unchanged like when using WiFi instead of Data. I've also think they use ad categories to suggest videos. Using a fresh TikTok installation and then spending some time navigating a subredd…

+1 on the SIM theory.

Carrier, iso country code, mobile country code, mobile network code, and more are all easily accessible data attributes.

Re: TikTok shares your data more than any other app and it’s unclear where it goes

#342

Post by ammo1662 »

friedman23 wrote: post #278
acconrad wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchens%27s_razor

Like I said in another comment, I'll allow HN readers to use their own judgement. edit: but you know what. Since you want evidence I'll give you some. The entire Alibaba debacle where the CEO was forced into hiding because he dared to contradict the Chinese political elite is my evidence that the Chinese government has implicit control over every business based out of China.

Evidence? If I did not use their services and had some friends work at Alibaba, I would trust you.

Re: TikTok shares your data more than any other app and it’s unclear where it goes

#343

Post by astkaasa »

robbedpeter wrote: post #5

It's not unclear at all. It's Chinese data harvesting software. They'll do token public appeasement to avoid negative pressure, but every feature in the app is designed to collect biometrics and behavioral data. China is not a good faith operator. Given the data needed to influence public opinion and voting, they will engage in manipulation favorable to their interests. That alone is sufficient to run tiktok at a los…

> Given the data needed to influence public opinion and voting

Actually there's no need to influence "voting".

Re: TikTok shares your data more than any other app and it’s unclear where it goes

#344

Post by rtsil »

Dma54rhs wrote: post #265
rtsil wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Universal healthcare, unemployment benefits, workers' rights, LGBTQ rights, prison policy, police behavior and control, social safety net, lack of religion in politics, free or extremely cheap education including higher education, and that's just off the top if my mind? > ask any non-European person who has lived on both continents where he feels more welcome. I gladly concede this, but this is just one element of so…

LGBT rights are definetly better off in America and then you listed a lot of economical issues that have very little to do with left or right in Europe. Matter of a fact in Eastern Europe the left wing economical policies are what is keeping socially Conservative people in power.

I really don't see how these are economical issues:

> Universal healthcare, unemployment benefits, workers' rights, LGBTQ rights, prison policy, police behavior and control, social safety net, lack of religion in politics, free or extremely cheap education including higher education

> Matter of a fact in Eastern Europe...

Thats why my first answer was: Certainly not Western Europe. My knowledge of Easter Europe is nonexistent, so I won't dare say anything about their circumstances.

Re: TikTok shares your data more than any other app and it’s unclear where it goes

#346

Post by hackerfromthefu »

wbsss4412 wrote: post #325
dumb1224 wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> watch every conversation happening in real time Eh.... are you sure? A lot of my childhood friends are now working in various ares of what you might consider 'authoritative post' or the infamous 有关部门 but I think it's still a bit too divorced from reality. Censorship and blatant blockage for sure but millions spying on billions in real time? I don't think that's how they work.

Yes, parent’s assertion is fairly preposterous. There is no way one could conduct surveillance on that scale in a non automated fashion. There are too many resources required.

Algorithms handle the bulk, humans make choices where the algorithm flags things.

Re: TikTok shares your data more than any other app and it’s unclear where it goes

#347

Post by slategruen »

toyg wrote: post #20
saturdaysaint wrote: post #3

I feel like TikTok is significantly underdiscussed, almost like the tech and business press are assuming it's a flash-in-the-pan more similar to Snapchat than Facebook. It is almost certainly having a major impact on the business of some of the most prominent publicly traded companies in the US, yet there are just a handful of articles discussing their impact on Facebook's disastrous quarterly results.

Nobody cares because (it is perceived that) there is no political discourse on TikTok yet. It was the same for Twitter and Facebook. Then Trump happened and People With Important Jobs started paying attention to them. There has not been such a catalyst event for TikTok yet. Like with Zoom, there is a vague feeling among the security-paranoid that the Chinese are leveraging it for data-gathering, but as long as they g…

In my country (Philippines), TikTok has been one of the main sources of political misinformation besides Facebook and YouTube (for a lesser degree). It's gotten so bad that it's impacting the coming national election wherein the platform of the currently leading candidate is focused on the glorification of the past dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Re: TikTok shares your data more than any other app and it’s unclear where it goes

#349

Post by tekknik »

selfportrait wrote: post #155
robbedpeter wrote: post #5

It's not unclear at all. It's Chinese data harvesting software. They'll do token public appeasement to avoid negative pressure, but every feature in the app is designed to collect biometrics and behavioral data. China is not a good faith operator. Given the data needed to influence public opinion and voting, they will engage in manipulation favorable to their interests. That alone is sufficient to run tiktok at a los…

I don’t refute anything you say, but linking to a page that features Glenn Beck, Mark Levin and Tucker Carlson doesn’t help your case. Not to mention the clear partisanship and call for donation to the “American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology” - a rabbit hole I’m happy to avoid.

A broken clock is right twice a day.

Re: TikTok shares your data more than any other app and it’s unclear where it goes

#350

Post by tekknik »

wbsss4412 wrote: post #325
dumb1224 wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> watch every conversation happening in real time Eh.... are you sure? A lot of my childhood friends are now working in various ares of what you might consider 'authoritative post' or the infamous 有关部门 but I think it's still a bit too divorced from reality. Censorship and blatant blockage for sure but millions spying on billions in real time? I don't think that's how they work.

Yes, parent’s assertion is fairly preposterous. There is no way one could conduct surveillance on that scale in a non automated fashion. There are too many resources required.

You reduce the signal to noise ratio using automation, but humans are still king and validate particular targets before other humans get involved.
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