Project 4 Podcast: Tik Tok

The speaker discusses the controversy surrounding the popular app TikTok. They mention concerns about the app stealing user data and the debate over its use in the United States. The speaker explores different viewpoints and discusses the outdated laws that govern internet privacy. They also highlight a study on TikTok's privacy risks and the addictive nature of the app. The speaker concludes by urging listeners to consider giving up TikTok and finding themselves again. I believe that now, more than ever, we are connected, whether it be for news, world affairs and especially social media. It is no great enlightenment that social media has skyrocketed the transfer of ideas and data through posts or videos, one of these platforms that has seemingly taken young adults by storm with its short, video-oriented style and wide array of people using it every day. Of course, I'm talking about TikTok. I came to know about TikTok from a number of friends who sent me videos off the app, but I really got interested when I began to see news articles of the app being accused of stealing user data. With the app's mother company being based in China, there's been quite a lot of controversy surrounding this topic and whether or not the app should even be allowed to be downloaded and used by citizens of the United States. I wanted to see for sure if these rumors are true and whether or not the hype is just another clickbait topic. There's nothing I love more than a good conspiracy story that might just end up being true, but will at least have me thinking. Join me in this episode as we take a look at what TikTok is all about, why they're being accused of stealing information, and what the experts have to say. This is the story you're not getting, but let me assure you, this will be the most important 10 minutes of your day, so stay tuned. I find it fascinating how TikTok has blown up over the recent years, and even how it seems to have gotten bigger than apps such as Instagram and Twitter. But I would never guess that such an app would have as much controversy as it does, given its harmless look of just another video music sharing app. It must have been three years ago when I saw newscasters and even political figures talking about the dangers of the app TikTok. I didn't pay much attention since I myself don't use the app, but I'd always meant to take a deeper look at the situation and what's being done. Over a couple weeks time, I've gotten to find a better understanding of the inner works of TikTok, and what exactly the issue is involving privacy. I know a lot of you listening might use the app, so I felt inclined to share with you what I've learned. An article on Bloomberg titled, The Claim of TikTok Breach Spotlights Viral Apps Blur as Target, gives what I think to be the best overall broad view of the whole situation. In the article, Demetrius Valcimaras from the Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team says, and I quote, that TikTok is being asked questions about the breaching of user data agreements by leaking sensitive information, such as by publicizing private videos, sending messages, and uploading videos on behalf of users. In another interview, on the same article, Robert Potter, CEO and CEO of Australian US cybersecurity firm, explains that there's a lot of attention on the way TikTok operates, and there just seems to be a big gap between how it operates, and how it says it operates. So the suspicion is real, and whether you care or don't, this has the attention of some very important people, whose very job is to interpret whether something is a threat or not to the public. In other findings, it seems that there's also a different point of view for this whole issue. In an article by the news scientist, writer Stokel Walker interviews German journalist and educator, Matthias Erbel, who studied TikTok and its practices, but found that any of the practices that TikTok uses are standard in tech firms, including those based in Silicon Valley, and that these data sweeps are merely used to prevent malicious behavior on its app. Now, up to this point, I saw TikTok as merely being the black sheep for using user data, when many other large tech companies based in the United States just might be exercising the same practices with no criticism, or that the app is merely based in China, whose government is communist, that it can't be trusted at all to use data merely for the purposes of rooting out harmful content. But there's still a lot to be learned, and holes to be filled. This is where my research came to the reading of law journals, which is something I gotta be honest with you, I never thought I'd have to do in my lifetime. Nevertheless, I found an interesting law journal that expresses the growing list of problems TikTok has encountered by interacting with the American public, particularly the youth. Mary Kate Sherwood of St. John's Law Review lists the many long-worded acts and regulations which are abbreviated for your sake, those being the GDPR, COPPA, CCPA, and IOP. Now you might be wondering, what do these mean? Well, these were all attempts by the United States government in the late 80s to protect US citizens while they used the internet. So you think an app like TikTok could still persevere through these government roadblocks and civil cases? Unfortunately, yes, since most of these acts were definitively too old to respond to the rising issue of data breaching. I mean, in the 80s, no one could have dreamt about the use of social media in 2022, or better yet, write laws to protect users. To build on this lawyer's perspective, Samuel M. Roth of the Journal of High-Technology Law speaks on the outdatedness of these laws, but would rather be put up against TikTok. He says that, and I quote, the internet and the ways we interact with it have evolved beyond recognition since 1998. Undoubtedly, there's more infringement online today than there was 20 years ago. So for there to be a solution to this data break, newer laws would need to be passed to combat TikTok and its mother company, Dancebyte. But I gotta be honest with you, I'm not seeing a whole lot done about TikTok. You might recall when former President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order in an attempt to ban the app if it did not sell the entirety of its stock to US companies. But it's still here in the app store, ready for you to download it. So I just had to get one more look at the inside of TikTok and its workings. Written by three Chinese scientists, I found that this article might be my golden ticket into the actual working gears inside TikTok. The article is titled, The Mechanism of Platform Interaction on Social Media Users' Intention to Disclose Privacy, a Case Study of TikTok. Wow, what a mouthful. But anyway, it says that, and I quote, the risks perceived by users mainly come from the abuse of information and the illegal use of third-party organizations, such as the online tracking and recording of information, the dissemination of information on the internet, and the selling of users' personal information by third-party organizations. A sort of refresher on why TikTok is being criticized. But I found something really interesting further on down in the article. Studies done by Chinese social media companies found that, and I quote, privacy disclosure behavior of users on social media platforms is a rational exchange behavior. But when the benefits of using social media outweigh the detectable privacy risks, people tend to post their information on social networking sites. There it is. So, it seems that TikTok knows that their app has the market cornered, and with this, can and will enact certain breaches on data because of this privilege. There it is, the elephant in the room. This dance fight company knows you better than you do yourself. They understand that users may not even care that their data might be getting stolen, since that never-ending stream of videos is just too hard to give up. I think it's no secret that social media can be addicting, but TikTok is the pinnacle of this addiction. With short videos and an easy swipe to find the next one, there is no other more dopamine wave-inspired media app than this. But sure enough, some of you might be still scrolling the app on a daily basis, and might not have any notion of stopping using it. But I hope that after hearing this, you just might consider it. I myself don't trust this stuff at all. I just find that not only is it just another social media app that could be a waste of time, but the amount of suspicion and connection to the Chinese government surrounding this app is just unsettling to say the least. I am all for freedom to do what you please with your time and talent, but is this really the hill any of you want to die on? I hope the answer is no. If you stuck around, I want to leave you with this. Fight the tide, get rid of distractions like TikTok, and find yourself again. You might just be the next modern man or woman. I think that should be it for this week. Tune in next week as we take a look at the world of Custom Trash School's world-class stuntman, Steve-O. Until next time, take it easy.