Ask HN: Should I ask my family to stop using TikTok?

2 pointscdolan2 comments

I do not have a TikTok or similar service due to privacy concerns. I read over the weekend an unconfirmed post detailing very extensive information gathering that may be happening with TikTok’s mobile app, including grabbing data about any other device on my local LAN.

Curious what this community thinks of the app. Should I be talking family members into uninstalling it?

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I would be inclined to say yes uninstall it. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23638129

Yes certainly. Even if they are okay with having their personal data collected for various purpose (including helping to train censorship models in China [1]), they are allowing them to manipulate their behavior with TikTok trends - some dumb, some dangerous, most of them being both [2]. It's unhealthy in every way.

[1] - https://citizenlab.ca/2020/05/we-chat-they-watch/

[2] - https://nypost.com/2020/02/13/the-dumb-dangerous-challenges-...

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