'TikTok users posting cat videos do not threaten UK national security, minister says'

[speak easy]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/19/tiktok-users-posting-cat-videos-do-not-threaten-uk-national-security-minister-says

The U.S. is being ridiculed up hill and down dale.

[W_HAMILTON]

1. No one ever claimed the TikTok USERS posting cat videos threatened national security.

The claim was that the TikTok app and its owners did.

And those in charge in the UK believe this as well, hence why TikTok was banned from UK government devices years ago: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64975672

[speak easy]

2. "why TikTok was banned from UK government devices years ago""

Because you do not want employees and officials making posts which could locate sensitive information. The minister was explaining why the UK will not follow the US into an outright ban. Nor will any other member of NATO.

[W_HAMILTON]

3. It was banned because of the permissions required by the app.

From the UK's official announcement of the ban:

TikTok requires users to give permission for the app to access data stored on the device, which is then collected and stored by the company.

So, as a prerequisite to even use the app, you would have to grant the Chinese government access to your data.

[speak easy]

5. The data (audio/video) stored on your device is accessed if you upload it.

Access to your camera, microphone, and contact lists is a greater concern.

So, as a prerequisite to even use the app, you would have to grant the Chinese government access to your data.


Not according to the terms of service, but that is not what the argument is about.

[W_HAMILTON]

9. You are trusting the terms of service agreement vs what users have tested to see what information the app accesses?

Yeah, that's probably part of the problem here...

We already know what sorts of sensitive information the app has access to because these sorts of things can be tested by users.

See my other post for all the information that the Chinese government has on its users that download and use the app. As I said in that other post, if you are okay with the Chinese government having all that personal information of yours, feel free to go ahead and post that information here for us fellow Democrats to have as well to show us all that you really are comfortable with all that information getting out.

[speak easy]

10. The argument, as I understand it,

is that ByteDance is a Chinese Company, and therefore the CCP can order it to do whatever it likes; not that the CCP has accessed, has access, or has analyzed user data, but than it can.

Has the CCP accessed TikTok data? ByteDance says it has not, but we can't trust them because they are Chinese. That's basically it.

Nevertheless

So, as a prerequisite to even use the app, you would have to grant the Chinese government access to your data.

is prima facie false.

[Renew Deal]

6. The app needs those permissions to upload pictures and video

Also contacts

[W_HAMILTON]

7. It does not need all this information to allow someone to post cat videos:

...here’s the laundry list of data you give up every time you scroll TikTok:

◾ Your name, age, username, email address, password, phone number and location.

◾ Your IP address, cellphone carrier, time zone, the model of your device and the OS you use.

◾ Biometric identifiers, like facial IDs and voiceprints.

◾ The content of your messages, plus exactly when you send, receive and read them.

◾ If you buy stuff from the TikTop shop, your purchase information, including your credit card numbers, billing and shipping addresses.

◾ Your activities on other websites and apps (or in stores), including info on what you purchased.

◾ File names and types.

◾ Your keystroke patterns and rhythms.

◾ Objects and scenery that show up in your videos, including tourist attractions, shops and other landmarks.

◾ The web pages you visit the most and how you interact with them.

◾ Any text, images and videos on your clipboard.

◾ Information about your videos, images and audio.

TikTok also embeds data into images and ads to track the time and date you view a page, complete with a description. The amount of data TikTok collects is so extensive that it can come dangerously close to cloning your entire phone.

Taken from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/komando/2024/08/08/apps-to-delete-cybersecurity-tiktok-temu/74673015007/

If you are okay with the Chinese government having access to all this, surely you are okay with fellow Democrats, yes? So, feel free to post your real name, age, email address, password, phone number and location for us.

[newdeal2]

4. Just give it time

TikTok ban likely to spread to US allies - including UK - BBC

Analysts have suggested it is "just matter of time" until the US ban on TikTok spreads to allied countries and beyond – if the Trump administration decides to keep it offline.

[vanessa_ca]

8. Our govenment doesn't want the competition when sowing the seeds of discord

Why the US is REALLY Terrified of TikTok | DWIRE


-snip-

This move suggests a growing anxiety within the American establishment. Once-dominant US tech companies are losing ground in the social media arena. Instead of innovating to meet the competition, they’re resorting to lobbying the government to eliminate their more dynamic, globally successful rival. It’s a display of insecurity unbecoming of a supposed superpower.

Why the meltdown? Because TikTok is messing with the system.

-snip-

Then there’s the scary part for the US: TikTok undermines the whole divide-and-conquer mentality. How do you sell endless war when kids in Iran and Idaho are doing the same ridiculous dance challenges?

The app’s global reach fosters shared experiences and cultural understanding. This directly contradicts the “us” vs. “them” rhetoric upon which much US foreign policy relies. When teens across the globe participate in the same dance challenges, demonizing entire cultures becomes more difficult.

-snip-
https://dwire.eu/why-the-us-is-really-terrified-of-tiktok/