5 ms·

TikTok will no longer let people opt out of personalized ads

31 points by laktak 6y ago

Zenst 6y ago
At some level with any website, you can't but feel that whatever you do, ads will be personalised to some degree. The whole aspect of a website informing you that they are at least feels more honest. Though when the informed choice is to accept it or not use the service - you feel that the option to pay for not having personalised advertising would be something that would be a revenue stream as much as advertising. I understand these services have to cover costs and make money to maintain etc, so advertising is acceptable. However some feel targeted is a privacy concern more than others and whatever people choose - as long as they are given an informed choice. Though the option to pay for privacy does feel somewhat odd, in the realms of that privacy in regards to a service they can freely choose not to use and is not some government mandated service is the balance needed. Concerns are that such services have become sudo government/authority outlets of information and if your not upon them, you could be left out of the loop. So, the reliance of government's and authorities in using social media platforms that force you into targeted ads is the real concern for me long-term. I'm aware facebook and twitter seem to be leaned upon more and more as the source for information by authorities, maybe some countries use tik-tok in that way already. But the trend does seem to be pushing governmental democratic communication towards private platforms that by design limit user freedoms.
Barrin92 6y ago
Is this a global change? Because it doesn't sound super GDPR compliant
- Zenst 6y ago
  Given the Verge gives you a choice from a 1/3rd banner to accept their cookie or accept their cookie, with the privacy terms a PITA to read unless you accept their cookie. I wonder if the verge themselves are GDPR compliant! If only there was some standard logo that would be a seal of GDPR compliance easy to see and trusted.
rchaud 6y ago
The most surprising thing about TikTok is that it works in the browser. No app or login required. According to a certain Firefox extension, the videos are downloadable as well. I suppose the point of an app like TT is that logging in saves your view history and provides 'better' suggestions. However, I'm perfectly fine with watching the popular ones that are shared to Reddit or Twitter. No need to go to the source.
- teruakohatu 6y ago
  Didn't Instagram recently ban reposting of watermarked TikTok videos? I see them reposted on YouTube all the time. EDIT: Not banned, then y just won't promote them [1] Allowing easy downloading of videos had allowed TikTok branding to spread virally on its competitors. As soon as TikTok feels the need they will pull up the drawbridge that allows access to the walled garden, much like twitter did with the API. [1] https://lifehacker.com/think-twice-before-reposting-your-tiktok-to-instagram-r-1846242508 https://lifehacker.com/think-twice-before-reposting-your-tik...

31 points by laktak 6y ago

At some level with any website, you can't but feel that whatever you do, ads will be personalised to some degree. The whole aspect of a website informing you that they are at least feels more honest. Though when the informed choice is to accept it or not use the service - you feel that the option to pay for not having personalised advertising would be something that would be a revenue stream as much as advertising. I understand these services have to cover costs and make money to maintain etc, so advertising is acceptable. However some feel targeted is a privacy concern more than others and whatever people choose - as long as they are given an informed choice. Though the option to pay for privacy does feel somewhat odd, in the realms of that privacy in regards to a service they can freely choose not to use and is not some government mandated service is the balance needed. Concerns are that such services have become sudo government/authority outlets of information and if your not upon them, you could be left out of the loop. So, the reliance of government's and authorities in using social media platforms that force you into targeted ads is the real concern for me long-term. I'm aware facebook and twitter seem to be leaned upon more and more as the source for information by authorities, maybe some countries use tik-tok in that way already. But the trend does seem to be pushing governmental democratic communication towards private platforms that by design limit user freedoms.

Barrin92 6y ago

Is this a global change? Because it doesn't sound super GDPR compliant

Zenst 6y ago
Given the Verge gives you a choice from a 1/3rd banner to accept their cookie or accept their cookie, with the privacy terms a PITA to read unless you accept their cookie. I wonder if the verge themselves are GDPR compliant! If only there was some standard logo that would be a seal of GDPR compliance easy to see and trusted.

rchaud 6y ago

The most surprising thing about TikTok is that it works in the browser. No app or login required. According to a certain Firefox extension, the videos are downloadable as well. I suppose the point of an app like TT is that logging in saves your view history and provides 'better' suggestions. However, I'm perfectly fine with watching the popular ones that are shared to Reddit or Twitter. No need to go to the source.

teruakohatu 6y ago
Didn't Instagram recently ban reposting of watermarked TikTok videos? I see them reposted on YouTube all the time. EDIT: Not banned, then y just won't promote them [1] Allowing easy downloading of videos had allowed TikTok branding to spread virally on its competitors. As soon as TikTok feels the need they will pull up the drawbridge that allows access to the walled garden, much like twitter did with the API. [1] https://lifehacker.com/think-twice-before-reposting-your-tiktok-to-instagram-r-1846242508 https://lifehacker.com/think-twice-before-reposting-your-tik...