Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks

Simply put, an app cannot do something that would require permissions, without it (unless exploiting vulns). Do you perhaps mean IP location? Which is incomplete, can be spoofed, or manipulated.

I agree that no app should probably have this power, but what the original commenter posits, is that TikTok is overreaching. Where "over" is compared to everyone else (including western media). Even, most websites collect this information with or without consent.

“We need to figure out a solution that is in line with our principles and what we want to do, and in line with the laws there, or else it’s not going to happen. Right now, there isn’t an intersection.”

> Foreign govt interference is the issue. If tomorrow Google were controlled by a hostile foreign govt., they would face the same bans.

So it _is_ simply because it's foreign. How long do you think Google would survive in the US if it didn't comply with US requests? It does comply with requests and three letter agencies have access to data (as per Edward Snowden).

If your stance is that it's fine when we do it but not when others do it then that's just what it is.

Never said it was -- if you follow the thread you'll see I was replying to someone pointing out that China has banned US social networks. The implication being that true US banning TikTok would only be fair, or something like that.

> We already ban a ton of stuff.

We do... and those bans do limit freedom, by definition. We've accepted that in a lot of cases -- few are arguing that child porn should be anything but banned, for example -- but I doubt we'd accept a government ban or restriction on, say, League of Legends simply because kids spend too much time on it (China places restrictions on time of day and duration).