Technology

Oh look, a reason-

The spreadsheets included users’ names, email addresses, IP addresses, and geographic and demographic information and was used to determine how to develop TikTok’s algorithm to encourage users to be more active on the app, he said.

And no it was their own Project Texas. Also, not nearly the data anyone is worried about. They can get that from your bank. (And yes banks sell data) That's not a breach of national security, it's just good business sense to retain consumers. This is also the only instance the article actually finds. The article also mentions the software programmers saying that the data coding itself is well siloed, i.e. no back doors.

So is this the horrible national security problem we've all heard so much about? A vital statistics spreadsheet you can buy from any Data Vendor? When you say they're obligated to send information people aren't thinking it's just literately a headcount. They're thinking it's political affiliation, income, job, social networking maps, GPS travel data. You know the stuff that the CCP intelligence people could fit together to find out what kind of porn you like and figure out how they can get that kind of porn in China.

Every argument for why we should ban TikTok fits Facebook and Twitter just as well. They both willingly give a lot more than that spreadsheet to the CCP. Facebook is perenially in congressional hearings over getting caught doing exactly what you're accusing TikTok of, and yet somehow here we are worrying about TikTok because of nebulous racist fearmongering that falls apart the second we find the "smoking gun".