![]() “Even if Congress bans TikTok, millions of apps would still collect the most intimate details about us and profit off of them, and the endless web of data brokers who buy and sell our personal data would continue to exist,” she said. Fitzgerald says a broader ban is possible, but it wouldn’t prevent TikTok or any other foreign adversaries from accessing American’s personal data. In late December, Congress passed a ban of the app on all federal government devices, and in late February, the White House gave a 30-day timeline for federal staff to follow through. Is a ban possible and would it actually work?Īt least 14 states have already banned the use of TikTok on government-issued devices. A majority said they support a government ban on the app. ![]() adults said in the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll that TikTok poses a threat to national security. ![]() Nor would TikTok honour such a request if one were ever made,” a sentiment he echoed several times throughout the hearing.Ībout 7 of 10 U.S. In his prepared remarks to the House, Chew also wrote “TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, US user data with the Chinese government. This could potentially allow the Chinese government unfettered access to data held by any Chinese company so that China could use TikTok user data to target individuals for blackmail, or recruit spies.” During the nearly five hours of questioning before the House panel on March 23, TikTok CEO Chew said that the app, and its parent company ByteDance had not “spied on Americans at the direction of the Chinese Communist Party.” The link to China is “the reason that Congress is talking about a TikTok ban,” Fitzgerald said, adding “Chinese law requires Chinese companies and citizens to assist with Chinese intelligence work. and China have escalated recently, spurred by China’s strengthening of its relationship with Russia and a suspected Chinese spy balloon that traversed sensitive military sites across North America before being shot down by the military. Tech companies, including TikTok, “take the data from your online activity and combine it with the data it collects about you on the app and use it to create profiles in order to target you with ads.” National security and TikTokĭespite the ubiquity of data collection on American devices, TikTok is raising unique national security concerns because it is owned by the China-based company ByteDance. tech companies, collects a huge amount of data about us both while users are on the app and via trackers on other websites, so they know what you’re reading outside the app,” Fitzgerald said. A 2022 study by Consumer Reports found that TikTok is using the same data-tracking practices as Facebook/Meta and others– collecting information about your online and offline activities: your location, what other websites you’re visiting, and what links you click on. ![]() “TikTok is just one app in a vast, commercial surveillance ecosystem,” Fitzgerald said. Watch the conversation in the player above. PBS NewsHour digital anchor Nicole Ellis spoke with Caitriona Fitzgerald, deputy director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, about the ways personal data gathered by social media apps could be used, and the latest on a possible ban. TikTok CEO Shou Chew’s first appearance before Congress last Thursday was met with bipartisan scrutiny, concerns about data privacy and calls for the Chinese-owned app to be banned in the U.S. While more than 150 million monthly users are reportedly watching TikTok in the United States, the social media app is also currently capturing the attention of American lawmakers. ![]()
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