What's going on with Trump and TikTok? I'm out of the loop.

TikTok is Chinese controlled and is being used to spy on Americans. Trump is banning it.

The main issue is every tik-tok is sent back to mainland china and logged.

They say it is just company policy.

Anything Chinese and electronic has a good chance of spying or gathering your data or facilitating it. It's how they run their own nation, and how they caught up and stay competitive economically: vast amounts of IP theft and spying.

ironmanag said:

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The main issue is every tik-tok is sent back to mainland china and logged.

They say it is just company policy.

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Not only that, the app itself access additional information that is on your device in the background and sends that along with the tik-tok.

And now they are part of Oracle, what other data will they get access to and ship back to China?

Data harvesting of Americans by the Chinese. It's spying and it's also being done by Google, Facebook and others.

When you use a "free" service, it's really not free. You are "paying" them by giving them access to your most personnel information and they in turn use it against you to influence your decisions and actions.

https://www.cnet.com/videos/why-the-us-might-try-to-ban-tiktok/

ironmanag said:

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The main issue is every tik-tok is sent back to mainland china and logged.

They say it is just company policy.

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It's not just that. It's all of the data that they collect that is completely unrelated to the app.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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TikTok is Chinese controlled and is being used to spy on Americans. Trump is banning it.

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Also, remember. Orange man bad.

Those in the older crowd, or really anyone with a social presence needs to watch the Social Dilemma on Netflix.

pfo said:

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Data harvesting of Americans by the Chinese. It's spying and it's also being done by Google, Facebook and others.

When you use a "free" service, it's really not free. You are "paying" them by giving them access to your most personnel information and they in turn use it against you to influence your decisions and actions.

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It is also one of the main reasons smart tv's have dropped like they have.

I didn't know that. Thanks Loco

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/18/technology/personaltech/tiktok-wechat-ban.html

Quote:

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. . .
The Commerce Department on Friday announced that beginning Sunday, it would prohibit downloads of WeChat and TikTok in U.S. app stores, and ban transactions made through WeChat.

"Today's announced prohibitions, when combined, protect users in the U.S. by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality," the Commerce Department said in a statement.
. . .
The immediate effects of the order: As of Sunday, Americans will no longer be able to download TikTok or WeChat from the Apple and Google Play app stores. WeChat users here will not be able to use the messaging app for sending payments.

If you have TikTok downloaded on your phone, you are fine for now. The Commerce Department will wait until Nov. 12 after the election to pursue a full ban on TikTok.
. . .
TikTok is attempting to reach a deal with an American company before November in order to avoid a ban.

Google Android users may try to "sideload" future versions of the WeChat and TikTok apps on to their devices, a process that involves changing some security settings to download apps from outside Google's official app store. Apple phones also have methods to install unauthorized applications. But sideloading and installing apps through unofficial channels is impractical, because it can compromise device security, and it is not simple for average people to do.

Apple and Google users could also try to download the apps from foreign app stores by traveling to other countries or using a virtual private network to connect to a remote server and manipulate their device location. But again, this is impractical.
. . .

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I hate tik tok as much as any grumpy dad. I agree that it's generally a bad thing and should go away.

BUT ...

It really looks here like the President just banned something because he doesn't like it, because it ruined his little Tulsa Juneteenth celebration. And now little Donnie decides it has to go.

I agree with the what, not the how.

Chuckle at the Nov. 12 date for a full ban.

Can't take away people's toys just prior to the election if they are currently playing with them.

MouthBQ98 said:

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Anything Chinese and electronic has a good chance of spying or gathering your data or facilitating it. It's how they run their own nation, and how they caught up and stay competitive economically: vast amounts of IP theft and spying.

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That and our own manufacturing / big tech corporations selling our souls down the river. It all started when greedy CEO's started outsourcing American factories.

Only if you're suffering from terminal TDS does it appear that way.

JCRebel13 said:

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I don't get his fascination with Tiktok, but not going after other services like Google or Facebook which are just as bad.

I also don't like the government telling me what I can and cannot use on my phone.

That said, I'll just turn on my VPN, say I'm in Canada, and call it a day and do whatever I want.

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Google is an American company that is privately owned or at least not owned by the US Government. Tik Tok is a Chinese company which means it is majority owned by the Chinese government. Big difference between a domestic private company gathering that info and a hostile foreign government doing it.

Also regarding TikTok, and I cannot confirm this but have been told this is the case by people who are experts in IT/data security, they've found that TikTok is programmed to seek out IoT devices it can "handshake" with in terms of seeking to find an entry point into potentially unprotected devices, some of which might have national security implications.

It was explained that a kid might have TikTok on their phone and seeks out the parent's phone when close to each other and it can then try to link with the parent's phone and mine data. That parent could be somebody with high-level security clearances and have top secret data on their phone. It might be encrypted but TikTok is trying to mine that data, send it back to China, and then their version of the NSA tries to break the encryption.

There's also the open-source intelligence ramifications of location services, etc, on phones where people can be tracked and their location data relayed to a hostile entity. That data can be used to target covert locations.

It all sounds like a Tom Clancy novel but he was known for being accurate in his technological research in his books.

Old Army Metal said:

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I hate tik tok as much as any grumpy dad. I agree that it's generally a bad thing and should go away.

BUT ...

It really looks here like the President just banned something because he doesn't like it, because it ruined his little Tulsa Juneteenth celebration. And now little Donnie decides it has to go.

I agree with the what, not the how.

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This is a stupid take.

The President doesn't hold your hand on the coronavirus, libs: :He's killing thousands of grandmas! He isn't doing his job!"

The President tries to prevent the Chinese from stealing people's data, libs: "He's a fascist tyrant! He's outlawing apps he doesn't like! He needs to mind his own business!"

Seek help.

AAggie said:

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MouthBQ98 said:

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Anything Chinese and electronic has a good chance of spying or gathering your data or facilitating it. It's how they run their own nation, and how they caught up and stay competitive economically: vast amounts of IP theft and spying.

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That and our own manufacturing / big tech corporations selling our souls down the river. It all started when greedy CEO's started outsourcing American factories. Bill Clinton decided to take money illegally from foreign sources in exchange for giving them American technology they could use against us.

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FIFY

I am going to lay it out in the most simplest terms....

If a US company utililzes software to basically create a digital twin of you all is well (I.e. Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc).

If a foreign owned entity does the same it gets shut down ( I.e. Tik tok). A Chinese entity just amplifies the concern.

Why is this happening?

Our government understands the potential of these software applications to shape your beliefs and ultimately your actions. Do not underestimate the power that these apps have on yourself and potentially your family and children. They are designed to be addictive and slowly morph your mentality. Everyone needs to be aware of what happens every time you get a notification, like a post, star a post on Texags, and ultimately see an ad on any webpage/ app you utilise. IMO our government understands the power of these applications and is responding accordingly.

Trump banning a website is not a good precedent to set. Completely stepping all over Net Neutrality. Which websites will be banned by the US next?

if its Chinese and has software it likely had a backdoor which gives the app access to your mic and camera.

in order to record things on tiktok you have to give the app these permissions.

this turns every smart phone that has tiktok into a digital spyware device capable of recording whatever it wants.

there has also been talk that it allows other backdoors that let devices be turned into trojan horses through which other computers and devices connected to the same wifi as the smartphone with tiktok can be hacked.

we already knew the chinese were doing this. with wifi routers we had found that the software inside carried backdoors which allowed the chinese access, which is why very quietly many of the US infrastructure systems had to replace their routers and rework their networks years ago.

it's also why countries have put the breaks on allowing the chinese to set up their 5G cell towers.

Toptierag2018 said:

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Trump banning a website is not a good precedent to set. Completely stepping all over Net Neutrality. Which websites will be banned by the US next?

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Yeah, bummer for your Chinese comrades.

At least y'all still have the NBA. Enjoy.

You really need to stay at the kids table while the adults are talking.

Paradise Ag said:

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Toptierag2018 said:

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Trump banning a website is not a good precedent to set. Completely stepping all over Net Neutrality. Which websites will be banned by the US next?

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Yeah, bummer for your Chinese comrades.

At least y'all still have the NBA. Enjoy.

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Cite security concerns all you want, but by letting the government get involved in this without actually creating set laws first is a bad idea.

Chinese spyware is bad but I suppose our government is okay with American spyware (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

Toptierag2018 said:

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Paradise Ag said:

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Toptierag2018 said:

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Trump banning a website is not a good precedent to set. Completely stepping all over Net Neutrality. Which websites will be banned by the US next?

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Yeah, bummer for your Chinese comrades.

At least y'all still have the NBA. Enjoy.

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Cite security concerns all you want, but by letting the government get involved in this without actually creating set laws first is a bad idea.

Chinese spyware is bad but I suppose our government is okay with American spyware (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

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By "American spyware" do you mean largest donors and propagandists for the Democrat Party?

Old Army Metal said:

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I hate tik tok as much as any grumpy dad. I agree that it's generally a bad thing and should go away.

BUT ...

It really looks here like the President just banned something because he doesn't like it, because it ruined his little Tulsa Juneteenth celebration. And now little Donnie decides it has to go.

I agree with the what, not the how.

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The problem with this statement is it assumes no one cared until this happend. DoD actually blocked it at the very beginning of 2020...well before Trump made any moves.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/04/us/tiktok-pentagon-military-ban.html

I work for a large US defense contractor.

TikTok is the only app - the ONLY app - the company has told us we cannot have downloaded to our phones and bring the phone in plant. It is actionable if we do.

We also have been strongly encouraged not to download the app for personal use, even if we plan to leave our cell phone at home.

Toptierag2018 said:

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Paradise Ag said:

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Toptierag2018 said:

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Trump banning a website is not a good precedent to set. Completely stepping all over Net Neutrality. Which websites will be banned by the US next?

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Yeah, bummer for your Chinese comrades.

At least y'all still have the NBA. Enjoy.

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Cite security concerns all you want, but by letting the government get involved in this without actually creating set laws first is a bad idea.

Chinese spyware is bad but I suppose our government is okay with American spyware (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

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We have laws and regulations for what those "American" companies can do with the data they collect, China does not

The problem with China is layered. China created a cyber security law that basically said that the CCP must have full access to all companies in China. In reality that means that they have access to source code, servers, passwords, encryption keys, and basically everything.

What does that mean to you when you use an application managed by a Chinese company? Who knows......

TikTok was caught keeping all records copied to the clipboard on phones. You go copy and paste the password... it was kept. Now what would a country that is openly hostile towards us do with some of that data?

Now go a step further. The entire country is using Zoom. Are you all aware that Zoom is a Chinese company? They make a bunch of promises, but in reality, they own the keys, the servers, the infrastructure. The possibilities of what they could do are really endless. Releasing a compromised client, code in backdoors, manipulate the data, randomly spy, and take down meetings to fit their goals.

Choose your own adventure. Our reliance on Chinese hardware and software is a danger to national security. At the very least we should hedge our bets and move to other supplying countries.

Tik Tok is a degenerate social media app that allows young girls to dance suggestively for likes. Who cares it it's chinese funded, it should go regardless.