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Comment by che_shirecat | Hacker News Reader

So, like LinkedIn and Reddit? (the site that the "researcher" behind these NYT-cited claims is using) [1] You could run through the toplist of apps and find hundreds that exhibit the same behavior.

Not trying to derail this via whataboutism, I just feel like the core HN ethos is lost when we mindlessly repeat the obvious geopolitically-driven narrative here without any critical thinking.

What I definitely do understand is Amazon's concerns with just the base level of data collection that's seemingly the norm in our industry. Which prompts the quesiton, why are we comfortable as a society with this sort of collection, by anyone?

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-ios-14-catches-reddit-...

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TikTok specifically has ties to the Chinese state apparatus that are concerning, similarly to Huawei. This isn't a blanket statement about Chinese companies in general - just those companies in particular. Specifically, this means these companies' products are likely to be tools of PRC state intelligence and the PRC's foreign-policy directives. The same cannot be said about other Chinese companies and similarly positioned companies in other countries.

This wouldn't be as big an issue if the PRC was a NATO ally, or least had a reputation for government transparency and accountability - and wasn't asserting ridiculous territorial claims - and didn't have an egregious human-rights record - and wasn't actively suppressing freedom-of-expression - and so on. Take away a couple of these issues and TikTok's suspicious business conduct over the past few years would be about the same level as scummy American Freemium game makers. I stress that (and despite appearances) I'm trying not to make a Sinophobic argument.

At the same time, I recognize that companies in China need to integrate themselves with the CCP/PLA/etc in order to succeed in that market.

"The same cannot be said about other Chinese companies and similarly positioned companies in other countries. "

What are other companies? Those that doesn't pose a threat? like those ones only produce cheap toys and clothes?. I think as long as Chinese government remain as independent and "different", anything comes out of there that really challenges current status quo would receive similar criticism like yours, regardless what or how those company behaves. Curious how do you recognize those companies "need to integrate themselves with the CCP/PLA/etc"?

TikTok has been caught slurping data on a level that’s an order of magnitude worse than Facebook, etc. Add its close ties to the enormously corrupt and evil CCP, and I find it easy to see why Westerners are unnerved by the app. Perhaps Tiktok could open-source its tracking library as a token of good faith.

That the others are doing it too doesn't make it right.

Really Apple should take a stand and give all of them 30 days to fix their apps or get banned.

But TikTok annoyed me in particular for a long time. Nothing to do with geopolitics, I already hated it before I knew it was owned by China and everyone started banning it.

It was just that for the past months every time someone forwarded me a stupid video I was supposed to like, it had a TikTok logo on it. So in my view this became the source of "stupid videos people bother me with". Not exactly a charming quality.

Especially with the lockdown it became extra annoying, every day I got multiple stupid lockdown videos and the ones with people doing stupid stuff and then the coffin dancers thing.

So that's my personal reason for hating on TikTok. The privacy revelations just sealed the deal. Not saying it's a valid reason for everybody but it's my reason :P

> It was just that for the past months every time someone forwarded me a stupid video I was supposed to like, it had a TikTok logo on it. So in my view this became the source of "stupid videos people bother me with". Not exactly a charming quality.

This quote comes to mind:

> I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV0wTtiJygY

I never liked TikTok or this kind of random videos or pics people share. No matter where they came from (it used to be a site called "Dumpert" in the Netherlands before which is also on my "highly annoying" list). I'm just too polite to tell them to piss off with their videos :P That's really the core problem here.

But TikTok associates itself by putting their logo on the videos which is something I haven't seen before.

> But TikTok associates itself by putting their logo on the videos which is something I haven't seen before.

It's just content watermarking.

Watermarking is essential to preserve your brand online. I assume you remember eBaumsWorld - and how they put their watermark and footer on all image-content that they rehosted: because those images would appear verbatim in FW:FW:FW... chain emails and shared over AIM,YIM,MSN,IRC, etc.

Back in the day, eBaumsWorld and others were criticized for putting their watermark on content that they rehosted, especially when they didn't own, produce, or commission that content. At least the vast majority of the content on TikTok was directly uploaded to it, and TikTok's watermark includes the username of the relevant account.

Their animated logo is obnoxious and distracting - but when I compare it to the DOGs on American TV news channels it isn't so bad, it's actually unobtrusive in comparison.

> putting their logo on the videos which is something I haven't seen before.

Woooooooorrrrld staaaaaaaar

Also if you ever see a 7 second vertical video, sleep well knowing you just watched a Vine (not really a logo, but association all the same)

> Really Apple should take a stand and give all of them 30 days to fix their apps or get banned.

Thirty days later the show of brinkmanship ends up with a bunch of iPhone users unhappy that half of their favorite apps work.

For amazon if Tiktok does it , it is state funded corporate espionage. Amazon is not in position to sue and win over a Chinese company in China if they copy their IP. If LinkedIn does it and MS launches something copying their tech , amazon can sure use in US court and likely win so they are not concerned at the same level

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSWdtoUAjo

Here's a rundown of just general apps that would be on everyone's home screens doing the same thing.

Any word on why those apps do what they're doing? Why copy from messages?

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