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Comment by jayveeone | Hacker News Reader

There is zero proof that TikTok collects more user data or uses that data any more nefariously than Meta.

US privacy laws are a joke. Singling out TikTok without addressing events like Cambridge Analytica with Facebook, is at best suspicious.

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> Singling out TikTok without addressing events like Cambridge Analytica with Facebook

They have addressed it, with the single largest FTC fine in history.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/07/...

How is 7% of that one year's revenue meaningful? Facebook could pay that every year and still be extremely lucrative. So, no, it has not been addressed.

This is America, fines are how everything is addressed. Deepwater Horizon, Exxon Valdez, Facebook, you name it. We don't haul CEOs off to jail in this country.

Where's the new laws protecting our data? We do more than just fine.

Two of the largest American global corporations (Google/FB) would have a much smaller bottom line if there were laws prohibiting the interchange of user data for marketing purposes.

There aren't any laws about that for the same reason that there aren't any laws addressing corporate tax loopholes.

Fines that are too small to change behavior are mostly worthless.

I'm in awe that you linked to the FTC fine as evidence of our government taking action to protect our user data.

Everyone seems to believe that all the apps spy on users (such as tracking your location, etc.), but I don't believe the platforms actually permit this unless the user expressly grants the app permission. However, just having a huge database of videos, viewing patterns, and social connections to analyze can be absurdly valuable, but I don't see all of that becoming illegal anytime soon.

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