4 ms·

Ask HN: TikTok CCP data collection software?

7 points by neom 4y ago

Watching the TikTok congress hearing today makes it pretty clear both the republicans and democrats believe TikTok is an extension of the CCP. Thoughts?

heliophobicdude 4y ago
This [1] It's old but still is very relevant. The archive link is here [2] 1: https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-stoked-washingtons-fears-about-tiktok-11598223133 https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-st... 2: https://archive.is/D7Dao https://archive.is/D7Dao
wellanyway 4y ago
Anyone who's not 1) CCP shill or 2) completely naive understands that it is, and most likely was designed from the core up with that goal in mind. Vine, I believe to be just a product by just a company. But then the politburo came in. Same as Yandex that was shown to record audio(!) through Yandex Maps. It's what KGB would do, it's fits the pattern to the T.
giuliomagnifico 4y ago
I don’t think TikTok is “an extension of the CCP” but surely China is using the (huge) data generated by it to its benefits, by analyzing them. And since China is not a democracy, in the future this could go against ourselves. So just don’t use it or use it with caution, the preferences, privacy, data, etc… of the young people now will be available forever on some Chinese datacenters. I’m not relaxated of this.
- ironyman 4y ago
  I agree with the assessment[1] that even if it isn't illegally collecting data it should be banned because it gives China a crucial edge in the development of AI tools that American companies don't have. China is able to freely access Western markets but not the other way around. [1] https://www.vox.com/recode/23453786/tiktok-bytedance-cfius-data-trump-ban https://www.vox.com/recode/23453786/tiktok-bytedance-cfius-d...
  - frumper 4y ago
    How does one ban something that isn’t illegal? I’m all for making mass data collection and sharing/selling illegal, but that isn’t what is being talked about.
aaronsdevera 4y ago
Surprised this did not get as much coverage. The Australian government produced this report last week which studied CCP ties to TikTok, the executive summary alone is pretty fascinating: https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=a7e2a076-1112-4414-ba0f-f129e0cd39fe&subId=735418 https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=a7e2a076-1112-4...
sebazzz 4y ago
Fact is that they completely obfuscate the code that runs in their app. That makes it hard for parties like Apple to validate the app (if they even want that - as large apps seem to have different rules to abide by).
iLoveOncall 4y ago
Yes, obviously. Just like any other product by any other large Chinese company, such as Zoom for example.

7 points by neom 4y ago

Watching the TikTok congress hearing today makes it pretty clear both the republicans and democrats believe TikTok is an extension of the CCP. Thoughts?

heliophobicdude 4y ago

This [1] It's old but still is very relevant. The archive link is here [2] 1: https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-stoked-washingtons-fears-about-tiktok-11598223133 https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-st... 2: https://archive.is/D7Dao https://archive.is/D7Dao

wellanyway 4y ago

Anyone who's not 1) CCP shill or 2) completely naive understands that it is, and most likely was designed from the core up with that goal in mind. Vine, I believe to be just a product by just a company. But then the politburo came in. Same as Yandex that was shown to record audio(!) through Yandex Maps. It's what KGB would do, it's fits the pattern to the T.

giuliomagnifico 4y ago

I don’t think TikTok is “an extension of the CCP” but surely China is using the (huge) data generated by it to its benefits, by analyzing them. And since China is not a democracy, in the future this could go against ourselves. So just don’t use it or use it with caution, the preferences, privacy, data, etc… of the young people now will be available forever on some Chinese datacenters. I’m not relaxated of this.

ironyman 4y ago
I agree with the assessment[1] that even if it isn't illegally collecting data it should be banned because it gives China a crucial edge in the development of AI tools that American companies don't have. China is able to freely access Western markets but not the other way around. [1] https://www.vox.com/recode/23453786/tiktok-bytedance-cfius-data-trump-ban https://www.vox.com/recode/23453786/tiktok-bytedance-cfius-d...
- frumper 4y ago
  How does one ban something that isn’t illegal? I’m all for making mass data collection and sharing/selling illegal, but that isn’t what is being talked about.

aaronsdevera 4y ago

Surprised this did not get as much coverage. The Australian government produced this report last week which studied CCP ties to TikTok, the executive summary alone is pretty fascinating: https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=a7e2a076-1112-4414-ba0f-f129e0cd39fe&subId=735418 https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=a7e2a076-1112-4...

sebazzz 4y ago

Fact is that they completely obfuscate the code that runs in their app. That makes it hard for parties like Apple to validate the app (if they even want that - as large apps seem to have different rules to abide by).

iLoveOncall 4y ago

Yes, obviously. Just like any other product by any other large Chinese company, such as Zoom for example.