TikTok is now collecting more data about its users • Hacker News Board

Re: TikTok is now collecting more data about its users

#111

Post by reactordev » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

direwolf20 wrote: post #108

reactordev wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except karma is tracked by your user…? I fail to see where you’re going with this. I’m not talking about political elections.

How much does it cost to create a user?

In the case of online voting, you can’t buy one. In order to create one, one would tie it to the existing identification systems they have (for example, ssa.gov).

Then your argument will be “what’s stopping someone from using someone else’s identity?” in which case we have laws for that. I don’t have all the answers but we can definitely do better.

Re: TikTok is now collecting more data about its users

#112

Post by xnx » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 2:33 PM UTC

AlecSchueler wrote: post #101

hshdhdhj4444 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All Americans are probably better off using Chinese apps that the Chinese government uses to snoop on them and Chinese are better off using American apps that the American govt uses to snoop on them than the opposite. The impact the Chinese government can have on an individual American is minor compared to the US govt and the same goes for the American and Chinese govts on the average Chinese person.

> The impact the Chinese government can have on an individual American is minor I agree with this completely but I think we all need to avoid the idea that the danger of mass surveillance plays out at the personal level. The Chinese government can do basically nothing with your individual personal data but if they have the personal data of tens millions of individuals then it suddenly becomes way easier to do things…

I am no more/less concerned about China influencing elections than Fox News.

Re: TikTok is now collecting more data about its users

#113

Post by scarecrowbob » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 5:15 PM UTC

halJordan wrote: post #110

scarecrowbob wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More like "alcohol is a drug".

Are we really taking the position that alcohol precipitated crimes are not a thing? If you take that position it's because DV and drunk driving are so normalized in this country that you don't even consider them heinous anymore. SAS, but understandable

My point is that HN is, in fact, social media.

HN may be more normalized, in the way that alcohol is more normal than meth in my circles. And folks my find HN to be more "useful", in the sense that I find being able to have a drink and socialize useful but don't feel the same way about casual adderall usage.

Unlike caffeine, however, (and this is the point I am responding to), I don't think that the HN is any -less- social media.

Caffeine is indeed a drug but has relatively (to alcohol) minor effects, especially looking at the longer-term differences- that's the point of the parent post.

I think that, like most of the social drinkers I know, the users of HN don't feel like there's anything abusive about how they are using it. I also see folks who are definitely getting their social media fix off the site.

Re: TikTok is now collecting more data about its users

#114

Post by AlecSchueler » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 6:45 PM UTC

xnx wrote: post #112

AlecSchueler wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The impact the Chinese government can have on an individual American is minor I agree with this completely but I think we all need to avoid the idea that the danger of mass surveillance plays out at the personal level. The Chinese government can do basically nothing with your individual personal data but if they have the personal data of tens millions of individuals then it suddenly becomes way easier to do things…

I am no more/less concerned about China influencing elections than Fox News.

I was responding to the assertion that you should worry less about China.

Re: TikTok is now collecting more data about its users

#115

Post by allarm » Mon, Jan 26, 2026, 8:16 AM UTC

46493168 wrote: post #97

pluralmonad wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that has nothing to do with the reality that the best response is to stop doing heroin. Someone refusing to help themselves does not change that.

>But that has nothing to do with the reality that the best response is to stop doing heroin. This is inaccurate. The best response is medically supervised detoxification. Stopping heroin without medical supervision can cause severe dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, cardiovascular issues and aspiration pneumonia. To say nothing of the likelihood of relapse overdose. You should never, ever tell a person addicted to h…

Pedantic answers like this are just depressing. For fuck’s sake, TikTok and Facebook are not heroin - just focus on that.

Re: TikTok is now collecting more data about its users

#116

Post by fragmede » Mon, Jan 26, 2026, 8:24 AM UTC

allarm wrote: post #115

46493168 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But that has nothing to do with the reality that the best response is to stop doing heroin. This is inaccurate. The best response is medically supervised detoxification. Stopping heroin without medical supervision can cause severe dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, cardiovascular issues and aspiration pneumonia. To say nothing of the likelihood of relapse overdose. You should never, ever tell a person addicted to h…

Pedantic answers like this are just depressing. For fuck’s sake, TikTok and Facebook are not heroin - just focus on that.

TikTok the first thing they do before having a thought of their own in the morning, and the last thing before falling asleep in bed, and all day long as well. At least heroin you run out and have to leave the house at some point. People judge you so you can't be doing heroin in public, meanwhile everyone and their mom is glued to their phone these days. You're right, it's not heroin. It's worse.

Heroin's harms are mostly from the fact that it's illegal. Legalize it, make it cost a dollar for a week's worth of it, and the harms we see go away (to be replaced by other problems). Junkies mostly just want more heroin. Meanwhile, everyone's mainlining TikTok to all abandon right out in public, and no one bats an eye. People are losing jobs because they can't get off TikTok but because you can't film them and conclude they got fired from work because of it, it doesn't get the same kind of media attention.

Re: TikTok is now collecting more data about its users

#117

Post by allarm » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 9:13 AM UTC

fragmede wrote: post #116

allarm wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pedantic answers like this are just depressing. For fuck’s sake, TikTok and Facebook are not heroin - just focus on that.

TikTok the first thing they do before having a thought of their own in the morning, and the last thing before falling asleep in bed, and all day long as well. At least heroin you run out and have to leave the house at some point. People judge you so you can't be doing heroin in public, meanwhile everyone and their mom is glued to their phone these days. You're right, it's not heroin. It's worse. Heroin's harms are mo…

> You're right, it's not heroin. It's worse.

Stop spreading this nonsense. You clearly don't have any idea what heroin addiction is.