> or why the Chinese government would find it especially useful.
Let’s say you’re an individual that the Chinese government doesn’t like too much - perhaps you protest too loudly about things like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, or Tibet.
Perhaps you’re also originally from China but are now a naturalized citizen (or perhaps your spouse is).
Perhaps the Chinese would like a word with you and want you to come down to the local police station [0] for a friendly chat [1]
It sure would be nice for the government to be able to locate you easily.
Perhaps though you’re aware of the privacy issues with TikTok and you avoid it.
Problem solved - except for your kid who has it installed on her phone so now they know where you live.
So Just ban your kid from using TikTok - problem solved (hah), except they’re also monitoring social graphs so now you need to make sure none of your kids friends use it either.
It’s not difficult to see how such a system could present a problem to certain individuals.
For most people this kind of surveillance isn’t going to mean anything.
But for those certain people of interest it could be a real problem.
Maybe you’ll never cross the line between random individual vs person of interest, but do you know where the line is and how it changes and expands as all systems like this do?
inb4 “but US-based social media companies track you like this too”. Yes they do, and it will become a growing problem depending on how much you trust the government of the day.
> inb4 “but US-based social media companies track you like this too”. Yes they do, and it will become a growing problem depending on how much you trust the government of the day.
The US has literally assassinated people based on exactly that siphoned data you describe.
Let’s say you’re an individual that the Chinese government doesn’t like too much - perhaps you protest too loudly about things like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, or Tibet.
Perhaps you’re also originally from China but are now a naturalized citizen (or perhaps your spouse is).
Perhaps the Chinese would like a word with you and want you to come down to the local police station [0] for a friendly chat [1]
It sure would be nice for the government to be able to locate you easily.
Perhaps though you’re aware of the privacy issues with TikTok and you avoid it.
Problem solved - except for your kid who has it installed on her phone so now they know where you live.
So Just ban your kid from using TikTok - problem solved (hah), except they’re also monitoring social graphs so now you need to make sure none of your kids friends use it either.
It’s not difficult to see how such a system could present a problem to certain individuals.
For most people this kind of surveillance isn’t going to mean anything.
But for those certain people of interest it could be a real problem.
Maybe you’ll never cross the line between random individual vs person of interest, but do you know where the line is and how it changes and expands as all systems like this do?
inb4 “but US-based social media companies track you like this too”. Yes they do, and it will become a growing problem depending on how much you trust the government of the day.
0: https://www.newsweek.com/china-overseas-police-service-cente...
1: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/chinese-diplomat-admits-...