I am tired of the unspoken Western Big Tech apologia. TikTok OBJECTIVELY collects far lesser data than Big Tech apps and services, according to reports from 2 reputed data collection analysis companies. Moreover, the below assumes you have an account, which is not even needed to use TikTok, unlike Instagram or Snapchat.
One of the key important aspects of threat modelling for your desired privacy is the acceptance of facts instead of false nationalist opinions.
Moreover, while TikTok collects basic data, it never forces you to login other than for commenting (for obvious reasons) and similarly personal things, unlike Instagram. If you open an IG link in web browser, you cannot replay the video second time, and if you scroll the account’s posted images and videos, you will not be able to flick through a second time.
Unlike Tiktok, with Western platforms and services like Facebook, you give phone number, contact book, IMEI, location data, email, some name or pseudonym et al. With TikTok, none, because you do not need an account for it.
Facebook/Instagram and major Western platforms’ data collection on a user is more than what TikTok does on a user, even if there is an account on both services. On top of this, TikTok does not have tracking pixels, ad networks, CDN and other methods of tracking on other websites, unlike Facebook ecosystem. This allows Facebook ecosystem to correlate, interlink and form data clusters on users and IP addresses. Remember how Facebook ecosystem disallows accountless access? Or how they C&D’d Barinsta developer Austin Huang, citing they dislike anonymous access to Instagram?
Western platforms also inject malware in browser using domains like netseer-ipaddr-assoc.xy.fbcdn.net, something TikTok does not do if you do not have an account.
This is precisely what makes TikTok objectively so harmless without an account, and even with an account, relatively far less harmful. It does not mean TikTok does not collect data, but the difference is too wide. These are the facts, free of American nationalist propaganda.
TikTok OBJECTIVELY collects far lesser data than Big Tech apps and services
This is not true for a number of reasons, first being that once the data gets sent to a Chinese server, it’s gone. It’s like a void. Those “data collections analysis” can speculate, but they truly have no idea what happens with that data. Another reason that TikTok is as bad as Instagram, is that they farmed all the data from the in-app browser. Every click, scroll, everything.
You can argue that they have a different approach to data farming, and they do: they try and rope you in, trick you into giving them your data. But it’s demonstrable wrong to say that they collect less data. I wouldn’t say they collect more data than typical west social media platforms, but I think it’s disingenuous to say they’re somehow better.
I read through the first link you provided, it doesn’t align with your claim “TikTok OBJECTIVELY collects far lesser data than Big Tech apps and services.”
Now remove the need to use TikTok’s app and account, and count what all metrics get sent when you use it like that. You can use TikTok freely in any web browser. That makes it WAY better than any Western Big Tech services.
And no, TikTok is NOT the worst in any category, and is far below Facebook and Instagram.
You misinterpret the data shown in there, and ignore what I said about not needing an account. Services like Instagram make it mandatory to have an account and its app to use it.
Spying on user data is a constitutional right of US companies, what are the poor going to live on when they can’t traffic with your data, or when a disgusting red communist company steals their bread? A little more proper patriotism, guys. Bad enough that the EU is cutting the wings of this companies, therefore also don’t use EU apps to make America great again.
I’m sorry, friend! When I looked at this post, I thought it would be funnier if it was spelled like “jhoes.” I guess this one performed better because it eased people into it whereas you outright went there.
if it makes you feel any better, i downvoted both of you (but this one is better because it seems to depict actual items, and not ai generated nonsense)
Makes me remember when UK and France invaded China and forced then to commercialize opium and destroy their country:
“The First Opium War was fought from 1839 to 1842 between China and Britain. It was triggered by the Chinese government’s campaign to enforce its prohibition of opium, which included destroying opium stocks owned by British merchants and the British East India Company. The British government responded by sending a naval expedition to force the Chinese government to pay reparations and allow the opium trade.[1] The Second Opium War was waged by Britain and France against China from 1856 to 1860, and consequently resulted in China being forced to legalise opium.”
So in your analogy then Britain is the now China, and now U.S. is the then China? And TikTok is the opium released by China? Hence TikTok should be banned, if U.S. have the power to do so?
I think you’re really misevaluating the (non)equivalence between how you’re crippled as an organism by opium addiction vs just having your attention fucked up by tiktok
lemmy.today
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