Calls for TikTok Probe Widen, Adding To Pressure on Biden To Weigh In (wsj.com) 25
Calls for an investigation into the security risks posed by the video app TikTok are widening, adding to pressure on President Biden to make good on his year-old promise to get tough on apps that could share Americans' personal data with foreign adversaries. From a report: The Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the panel's top Republican sent a joint letter to the Federal Trade Commission this week urging an investigation of TikTok's data-handling and other practices. TikTok's parent, ByteDance, has its headquarters in Beijing. The letter from Sens. Mark Warner (D., Va.) and Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) followed reports by BuzzFeed that ByteDance's employees in China have repeatedly accessed U.S. users' personal data.
"We ask that your agency immediately initiate [an] investigation on the basis of apparent deception by TikTok" concerning its data-handling and corporate- governance practices, said the lawmakers' letter. It called for the FTC to coordinate its work with any investigation that might be initiated by the Justice Department. The FTC and DOJ declined to comment. TikTok said that it is making progress in sharply limiting access to its data on Americans.
"We ask that your agency immediately initiate [an] investigation on the basis of apparent deception by TikTok" concerning its data-handling and corporate- governance practices, said the lawmakers' letter. It called for the FTC to coordinate its work with any investigation that might be initiated by the Justice Department. The FTC and DOJ declined to comment. TikTok said that it is making progress in sharply limiting access to its data on Americans.
C'mon man... (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
Anybody else wondering.... (Score:4, Insightful)
...what they're trying to distract us from? Not that they would ever try to do that, of course. Given the rampant abuse of literally *every* American's information about everything, this smacks so hard of hypocrisy that it hurts. Yes, how DARE CHINA (gasp!, ) try to take our data. That's for US to do domestically!
Yeah, it's all horse shit and needs to stop. Perhaps we should think about pressuring Congress for ACTUAL privacy laws....although I highly doubt that the "People" have the stomach left to stick up for themselves about something important. That seems rather obvious given the current state of "Red (idiots) vs. Blue (idiots)". Gotta be on one team or the other folks, right?
Re: Anybody else wondering.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:1)
Winner winner, chicken dinner.
Re: Anybody else wondering.... (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The information that the TikTok app can gather IS a concern for national security.
The information that the Google/Facebook app can gather is NOT a concern for national security because the US government has completely infiltrated them.
The information that the Google/Facebook app can gather IS a concern for personal security but everyone is too busy getting experimental injections to be concerned about that.
Re: (Score:2)
The information that the TikTok app can gather IS a concern for national security.
You can say the same thing for about 99% of software out there it seems.
Re:Political theater (Score:5, Insightful)
You're not thinking in terms of modern information warfare. A foreign adversary that is actively committing genocide controls one of the most-used and most-influential apps that our kids spend hours a day using. The content they're shown shapes what they think about, who they talk to, what they're outraged by, etc. Now do you see a potential problem?
I hear the beginning of a limerick (Score:4, Funny)
Calls for TikTok probe widen
Adding to pressure on Biden
Come on man, let's have a limerick contest!
Re: (Score:3)
Ok, I'll bite.
Calls for TikTok probe widen
Adding to pressure on Biden.
As the public was beggin' for answers
on everything from Ukraine to cancers,
turned out that ole Biden was in hidin'.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: I hear the beginning of a limerick (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Calls for TikTok probe widen
Adding to pressure on Biden
So he sniffed a kids head
And rambled seniley instead:
"My butt's been wiped, Senator Wyden!"
Investigate ALL tech firms on Data Privacy (Score:2)
Let's not just pick on TikTok.
Let's not let some tech competitors target other tech companies for investigations to weaken them or possibly take them off the playing board when they are all playing by the same "collect it all" and distribute your personal data as they want "game."
The data they collect on you is worth far more than any "free" services they provide you... always!
Yes... Facebook, Google, Amazon, Truth Social, Twitter, etc. And Apple too. Most of that "privacy marketing" is not what you say. T
Poor Biden (Score:1)
Poor Biden. So many grandkids, all vying for attention, but so little energy.
Yeah Yeah (Score:1)
Facebook data harvest okay because?
Google data harvest okay because?
Apple data harvest okay because?
This stinks like bribery. Facebook lost to TikTok some years ago and is pulling strings and greasing palms to get TikTok outta here.
Re: Yeah Yeah (Score:1)
If we follow the money... (Score:1)
We will find, Meta, Google, MS, Apple, NSA, CIA, FBI, etc.
Which tells me that as of right now, they dont have access to the TikTok data like they get from the others.