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The concerning part is a foreign government with whom we have a quasi-antagonistic relationship being able to access detailed information on US citizens. Imagi

The concerning part is a foreign government with whom we have a quasi-antagonistic relationship being able to access detailed information on US citizens. Imagine you work at Goldman Sachs, along with 50,000 other people. Like a lot of your colleagues, you use TikTok. You often open the app at work. Maybe you have something embarrassing in your search history. China uses location data, wifi matching, or even a list of names to figure out that you work at Goldman and they know you might be susceptible to blackmail. And then they get you to check in some malicious code that damages the financial sector. That's why the US is going to ban TikTok. It's also why the US forced the sale of Grindr.

nonethewiser 4y ago
> The concerning part is a foreign government with whom we have a quasi-antagonistic relationship being able to access detailed information on US citizens. And before we argue about whether or not Tik-tok can access this data, consider that we can be certain that they can't access it if they're banned. There is no obligation to prove that China is exploiting the US in order to justify a ban of Tik-tok.
- granzymes 4y ago
  There is no question on whether China can access TikTok data. China has total control as long as TikTok is owned by ByteDance and the executives of ByteDance are physically located in China. No laws necessary. Give us the data or you disappear for a year.
  - nonethewiser 4y ago
    It's as simple as you say. By virtue of Chinese law we must assume they have access. but it's not even necessary to prove. Simply not being in the US's interests is good enough reason.
worrycue 4y ago
Personally I’m more worried that TikTok can be used to manipulate public option the way FaceBook was used by Cambridge Analytics.
- granzymes 4y ago
  That's also a concern, and the comparison people draw is that we wouldn't let China own CNN. But I think the national security concerns are mainly around sensitive data (similar to the forced sale of Grindr).

nonethewiser 4y ago

> The concerning part is a foreign government with whom we have a quasi-antagonistic relationship being able to access detailed information on US citizens. And before we argue about whether or not Tik-tok can access this data, consider that we can be certain that they can't access it if they're banned. There is no obligation to prove that China is exploiting the US in order to justify a ban of Tik-tok.

granzymes 4y ago
There is no question on whether China can access TikTok data. China has total control as long as TikTok is owned by ByteDance and the executives of ByteDance are physically located in China. No laws necessary. Give us the data or you disappear for a year.
- nonethewiser 4y ago
  It's as simple as you say. By virtue of Chinese law we must assume they have access. but it's not even necessary to prove. Simply not being in the US's interests is good enough reason.

worrycue 4y ago

Personally I’m more worried that TikTok can be used to manipulate public option the way FaceBook was used by Cambridge Analytics.

granzymes 4y ago
That's also a concern, and the comparison people draw is that we wouldn't let China own CNN. But I think the national security concerns are mainly around sensitive data (similar to the forced sale of Grindr).