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TikTok has been talked about more and more for months, especially after President Trump gave the company an ultimatum to sell its American assets 1. As we had already mentioned some weeks ago Trump isn't entirely wrong to be afraid of China, even if one's hands tremble at even thinking such a phrase. But is it really that horrible for privacy? What is the difference with Instagram? Why not use TikTok? At the time of last revision of this article TikTok it hasn't been sold yet but it seems that the negotiations are now coming to an end 2.
Very last premise before getting to the actual article: China has changed, in the course of negotiations, the rules for the export of technologies 3. From what we understand, even if these are only speculations given that there is no certain agreement yet, the TikTok algorithm was locked up and it cannot be sold abroad. In short, whoever buys TikTok's American activities will not be able to get their hands on their algorithm.
So we said: why not use TikTok? The answer comes directly from ProtonMail's cybersecurity analysts. We are talking about former CERN security engineers 4 who now work for ProtonMail.
Our take on #TikTok: Beware. The social media giant not only collects troves of personal data on you (sometimes without your consent), but also cooperates with the CCP, extending China's surveillance and censorship reach beyond its borders.
ProtonMail on Twitter
Translation: "Our opinion on TikTok: be careful! The social media giant not only collects personal data about you (sometimes without your consent) but also collaborates with the PCC (Chinese Communist Party, ed.) extending China's surveillance and censorship beyond its borders.
Strong words therefore, let's see how they arrived at this conclusion reading their blog together.
Why not use TikTok?
The security experts at ProtonMail seem very sure of what they say. On the other hand, they do so after examining TikTok's data collection policies, lawsuits, cybersecurity white papers, past vulnerabilities, and its privacy policy.
According to their analysis just using the app without ever creating a personal account, TikTok will be able to collect on you:
- Your IP address
- All history viewed on TikTok
- Mobile operator
- Location data including GPS and WiFi coordinates
- Information about the device you used. For example, if you use Android it is including your IMEI number (a sort of fingerprint of the device) e potentially also your IMSI number (a code that is used to track users from one phone to another)
To open an account, however, you will need to enter a telephone number or email address and your date of birth.
Once you start using the app as a registered user TikTok records details about:
- Every video you upload
- How long do you watch videos
- What videos do you like
- What videos do you share
- All messages you exchange in the app
What if I delete the account?
If you delete your account, TikTok claims to delete your data within 30 days. This statement though it is impossible to verify independently (as with most social media). For example, not long ago Instagram was caught keeping track of deleted content even after a year 5.
Also according to the ProtonMail report, TikTok's data collection is extreme. In fact, it is expressly stated in the privacy policy that navigation data will be shared el'email address with third parties so we can offer targeted advertising.
Why not use TikTok?TikTok and the Chinese government
What distinguishes TikTok from the other BigTechs we already know (like Facebook And Google) is the fact that it is managed by a Chinese company. And it is absolutely not a trivial matter and we can no longer pretend nothing has happened.
ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, is based in Beijing. China's 2007 AI laws allow the government to force any Chinese company to provide any requested information, including data on Chinese citizens 6. Furthermore, Chinese laws may also oblige you to keep these requests secret. In China there is no independent judicial system, it is therefore impossible for a company to appeal a request from the Chinese government.
Not only that: Chinese companies are obliged to have Chinese Party "cells" within them to ensure their adherence to the party line 7.
As often happens, we invite you to read some insights from friends of Digital Ethics about: Who watches the Chinese? The party, When video games become a political choice And Xinjiang and Tibet: digital and prisons.
Does TikTok send data to China?
A white paper from cybersecurity company Penetrum 8 found that over a third of the IP addresses that the TikTok app connects to are based in China. Most of these IP addresses are hosted by Alibaba. According to the report of Penetrum “TikTok performs an excessive amount of tracking on its users, and the data collected is partially if not completely stored on Chinese servers“.
Alibaba works closely with the Chinese Communist Party, even going so far as to develop an app for Chinese propaganda 9.
TikTok's data collection along with its more than plausible proximity to the Chinese Communist Party makes it all a lot unsettling And worrying. According to ProtonMail experts, TikTok is "an extremely dangerous social media platform and its mass collection of data from adults, teenagers and children represents a serious risk to privacy".
So here it is why not use TikTok, how can you blame him? Is it really worth giving away our data, our faces and our habits to the Chinese government just for a social network?
- Trump orders ByteDance to sell TikTok's US operations[↩]
- TikTok is ready to sell its US operations[↩]
- TikTok, export ban for new sensitive technologies. So China wants to decide on its own app[↩]
- Is TikTok Spying On You For China?[↩]
- Instagram kept deleted photos and messages on its servers for more than a year[↩]
- What you need to know about China's intelligence law that takes effect today[↩]
- How the state runs business in China[↩]
- Penetrum Research[↩]
- Alibaba is the force behind hit Chinese Communist Party app: sources[↩]
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