TikTok updated their privacy policy. You may have seen a notification when you opened the app at some point, and you just hit “I Agree” and moved on. Maybe you just received the notification via email and ignored it. Either way, TikTok did all they’re required to do to warn you. The problem is, those things are far too long to ever read what’s in them.
Fortunately, someone did.
TikTok’s new privacy policy says the company can now collect your biometric data. They can use this for facial recognition and voiceprinting, that is, recognizing your face and voice anywhere they go. TikTok, owned by parent company ByteDance, which has extremely close ties with the Chinese government, wants to be able to identify users based on their face and voice. All this from a company with deep ties to a government that already closely monitors its citizens at every turn using facial recognition.
If you’re using TikTok, you’ve already agreed to it.
What is TikTok Collecting?
To be clear, we’re not sure if TikTok is currently collecting and using this data yet. We only know that TikTok’s new privacy policy means TikTok gave themselves permission to grab your data and use it.
TikTok says the new policy will allow them to “collect biometric identifiers and biometric information,” including “faceprints and voiceprints.” They can also identify objects in photos and videos. Finally, they’ll grab the text of what you say, using voice to text technology. This allows them to collect a large amount of information on you, your possessions, your interests, the topics you discuss, and far, far more.
What TikTok’s collecting isn’t unheard of. Facebook, for example, also tags your images using AI to find potential items of interest in the background. In fact, you can use browser add-ons to look into the tags for images, which Facebook adds themselves. Facebook has also been using facial recognition to tag people and create networks of friends and people you likely know. For these reasons and more, you should cut down on your Facebook use, if not quit the network altogether. However, TikTok may be even more dangerous due to their suggestion algorithms and potential ties to the Chinese government.
Biometric Data: What is it Good For?
It turns out, biometric data is useful in many situations. Some of them, frankly, are quite sci-fi. For example, a store that purchases biometric data from a company like TikTok could use it to identify customers as they walk in. It could immediately change advertisements on screens, and notify sales people about your identity. But it’s much, much more than that. Because TikTok also gathers what you’re talking about and objects in view of your camera when you make videos, they can also figure out your interests. Walk into a shop that bought this data, and they’ll know exactly what sales pitch to use to get you to buy more.
It’s not just in-person sales either. Tying your face, the words you use, and your voice together allows a company to find other profiles that may be you across the web. It allows them to build a larger profile on your likes and interests. They can find you in other people’s videos, linking you to other people, even if you’re only accidentally in the background of another person’s video. This can allow them to triangulate you, or look into travel habits. It effectively turns any camera attached to their social network into a surveillance tool, and they’re trying to learn as much as they can about you.
An Actual Surveillance Tool
It’s also possible that this could be an actual surveillance tool. We’re not sure how deep the connection between ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, and the Chinese government goes. However, the ties seem to run deep. You can assume that if a Chinese company is storing any data in their own servers, that China can have that data.
TikTok has censored topics, even in the U.S. and Europe, that China would not approve of. That includes protests for civil rights, LGBTQIA topics, and anything related to China’s Uyghur concentration camps and forced labor. This means they could also make note of who posts these things. From there, it’s easy to see who may be a “disruptor” in China. This person is gay, supports BLM, and is against our concentration camps, watch them. Visiting China? Chinese authorities can get a heads up that you may be more of a problem than other visitors. That sounds absurd, and it is. China’s surveillance of its own citizens goes well beyond its borders, and also monitors visitors. Government agencies could decide that a popular enough disruptor needed to be watched closely.
We know that China’s surveillance is a high priority for the government. We also know how much they try to limit speech and control potential dissonance. It’s not a bad idea to assume the worst when it comes to their data collection and surveillance.
TikTok Canceled?
No, don’t be silly. TikTok is clever. The algorithm driving it has made it the “it” spot for culture for an entire generation. Which trends are coming up? What’s going to make you cool at school? What’s already outdated and cheugy? TikTok’s the one place where you can stay on top of that. This is why they use flash trends. Songs, artists, fashion, even word choices (ahem, like cheugy) are flashes in the pan. There’s social pressure to be active on TikTok and see what trends TikTok’s algorithm is pushing to other people in your peer group. TikTok’s popularity is an addiction because quitting it means falling out of the trends. It means becoming less popular. We all remember how important that seems when you’re younger.
You need TikTok because TikTok is driving culture now. People aren’t going to leave it behind just because it means giving up privacy and security. Those are esoteric concepts with consequences that cannot yet be measured. However, it’s easy to see the consequences of not being trendy. Mockery comes quickly, the consequences for losing your privacy and security now come much later.
What price will we pay for giving up our privacy to companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon, and, yes, TikTok and potentially the Chinese government? We don’t know yet. And that’s why TikTok’s not going anywhere, not until it’s too late, anyway.
Sources:
- Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac
- Amber Neely, AppleInsider
- Sarah Perez, TechCrunch