TikTok's Pervasive Mobile Data Collection and the Potential to Data Harvest
TikTok has over 1 billion daily users since early 2022.
There have been 3.5 billion downloads of the TikTok app.
It is the fastest growing app in 2022.
Terms and conditions are present, but users do not read these, and thus, one can argue informed consent is not present.
The app checks on one’s location on average once an hour. It knows in detail: smartphone specification, number of times the app is used, what other apps are used on the mobile, number of unlocks, battery usage, contacts, calendar items and more.
The claims are made this data is being deposited in Singapore, with access to China mainland.
Is this a form of uberveillance: ID, location, condition monitoring, and evidence in form of photography and video?
Can’t forget that Music.ly is the predecessor to TikTok. It began with a US footprint in Santa Monica, CA and Shanghai. Music.ly was sold to ByteDance for 1 billion dollars. The Chinese app has a different name and mainly hosts educational items on it. While TikTok that has been translated and available in different countries, houses pranks, games, and other light hearted content.
Issue is how is the data being used? The billions of data points gathered? Is it about unique behavioural biometrics? Is this about advertising and $; and is it about government intelligence gathered through “open source data” that has been volunteered by the populace?
Cannot ignore the matter of internet addiction in youth using TikTok. Need policy responses. Need media literacy. We shouldn’t be advertising to children.
TikTok can spur on creativity but this can be diminished by addictive behaviour.
Online usage has skyrocketed on mobile phones with averages now at between 3-6 hours a day. What does this mean for productivity and attention of people within family contexts and other work-related contexts etc?
Links:
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/so-what-if-china-can-access-your-tiktok-data/mr1anx97k
Citation: Katina Michael with Jake Cupitt, 19 July 2022, “TikTok's Pervasive Mobile Data Collection and the Potential to Data Harvest”, ABC Illawarra: Drive, https://www.abc.net.au/illawarra/programs/drive/drive/13970518