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TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

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Re: TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

#61
post #36

A security researcher wrote an article while back and it was shocking to see how much data TikTok was collecting: - biometrics - what words are mentioned in the video, popularity - surrounding wifi, location data - your contacts (presumably to cross link to social media platforms) I just can't believe that a powerful country like America is letting a not-so-friendly military/civilian complex infiltrate it for somewha…

Is this collection different from, say, Meta? I believe they collect all the same information via Instagram. And before someone says Meta is an American company, not controlled by an adversary, let me recall that it’s controlled by Zuckerberg who spent $419 million to influence US election administration in a seemingly partisan way (“democracy hacking” as another commenter said). Meta may not be YOUR adversary, but t…

It’s a little bit different, because Meta operates in a much different legal environment. You give up a lot of control of your company to the CCP to operate in China, and if you don’t, you’re forced out of the market.

Re: TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

#62

It’s incredible that the US allowed TikTok (which is by all measures a chinese spy tool) to become such a dominant social network. India got it right from the beggining by banning TikTok. They saw the immense threat and didn’t hesitate. China, by principle, has always banned all foreign information technology companies. What seemed hostile for us, it’s a reasonable play if you understand the unmeasurable power of mas…

By not banning it they can legitimate a war with CCP, a parallel to the US letting Russia threat and attack the west first.

Re: TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

#63

A security researcher wrote an article while back and it was shocking to see how much data TikTok was collecting: - biometrics - what words are mentioned in the video, popularity - surrounding wifi, location data - your contacts (presumably to cross link to social media platforms) I just can't believe that a powerful country like America is letting a not-so-friendly military/civilian complex infiltrate it for somewha…

> I just can't believe that a powerful country like America is letting a not-so-friendly military/civilian complex infiltrate it for somewhat unknown purpose

This is 100% why their US data is now stored in Oracle cloud storage. So the US can mine it too now for free. [1]

[H] https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/17/tiktok-oracle-us-traffic-c...

Re: TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

#64

A security researcher wrote an article while back and it was shocking to see how much data TikTok was collecting: - biometrics - what words are mentioned in the video, popularity - surrounding wifi, location data - your contacts (presumably to cross link to social media platforms) I just can't believe that a powerful country like America is letting a not-so-friendly military/civilian complex infiltrate it for somewha…

No post body was provided.

Re: TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

#65

People who use TikTok don’t care so if they’re cool with it that’s on them right? Nobody is forcing them to use it.

> if they’re cool with it that’s on them right?

If their nonchalance impacts my security, no, it’s on me as well.

Re: TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

#66

It’s incredible that the US allowed TikTok (which is by all measures a chinese spy tool) to become such a dominant social network. India got it right from the beggining by banning TikTok. They saw the immense threat and didn’t hesitate. China, by principle, has always banned all foreign information technology companies. What seemed hostile for us, it’s a reasonable play if you understand the unmeasurable power of mas…

The fact that India would consider TikTok a threat but not Meta leads me to believe that it wasn't done on a purely espionage basis. The threat of TikTok, today, it still theoretical, while Facebook has done measurable harm to India's neighbors.

Re: TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

#67
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this collection different from, say, Meta? I believe they collect all the same information via Instagram. And before someone says Meta is an American company, not controlled by an adversary, let me recall that it’s controlled by Zuckerberg who spent $419 million to influence US election administration in a seemingly partisan way (“democracy hacking” as another commenter said). Meta may not be YOUR adversary, but t…

It’s a little bit different, because Meta operates in a much different legal environment. You give up a lot of control of your company to the CCP to operate in China, and if you don’t, you’re forced out of the market.

It's different only in paper. The US also can put lot of pressure on the companies via TLAs.

Re: TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

#68

It’s incredible that the US allowed TikTok (which is by all measures a chinese spy tool) to become such a dominant social network. India got it right from the beggining by banning TikTok. They saw the immense threat and didn’t hesitate. China, by principle, has always banned all foreign information technology companies. What seemed hostile for us, it’s a reasonable play if you understand the unmeasurable power of mas…

Trump tried to ban it in 2020 out of "national security concerns" similar to Huawei. The ACLU and media painted it as anti free speech and xenophobia and never gave the claims any serious scrutiny.

> On July 7, 2020, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the government was considering banning TikTok.[26] In response, experts[weasel words] suggested that Trump's proposed TikTok ban may threaten free speech and "set a very problematic precedent" for banning apps in the United States.[27] Patrick Jackson, chief technology officer of privacy company Disconnect, said the app sends an abnormal amount of data—mostly information about the phone—to its server, but there is limited evidence that TikTok is sharing these data with the Chinese government. He also noted that the amount of collected data was similar to that collected by American-originated social media platforms and was less than that collected by Facebook.[28]

> After Trump proposed to ban TikTok in the U.S on July 31, 2020, security researchers expressed their concern about limitations of freedom. In one article, PCMag quoted Jennifer Granick of the American Civil Liberties Union Surveillance and Cybersecurity Counsel who said that "banning an app that millions of Americans use to communicate with each other is a danger to free expression and is technologically impractical."[35]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump%E2%80%93TikTok_co...

Re: TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

#69
post #35

Is there someone here that work at TikTok who could explain how collecting such that brings any value to TikTok. That's an honest question. I understand that we're being tracked with cookies, email address, FB/Google accounts. But the biometric stuff, what is it for ? It seems very disproportionate to me if it's just for advertising.

The most obvious (capitalist) application would be to use the data to build AI "creators". Some of these real people make good money as influencers. And if TikTok could use computers to generate influencers, they could seriously cash in.

The military applications of this tech would be to stir up decent or manufacture outrage in a country for political gains.

Or maybe both. Selling military tech to other countries is a good way to make money too.

Re: TikTok updated privacy policy to collect faceprints and voiceprints (2021)

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a little bit different, because Meta operates in a much different legal environment. You give up a lot of control of your company to the CCP to operate in China, and if you don’t, you’re forced out of the market.

It's different only in paper. The US also can put lot of pressure on the companies via TLAs.

The situation in the US is not without valid criticism , but it is not even close to comparable with the legal environment in China. The US has a judicial branch that frequently operates at odds against its own executive branch, by design.
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