TikTok Turbulance

By Jonah Elkowitz

Social media applications use personal data, but the popular app TikTok is being accused of taking this practice to the extreme. Since this summer, President Trump and representatives from the Department of Justice have suggested that TikTok’s user data collection poses a risk to the United States’ national security.

TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat are critical players in the social media conglomerate, and many high school teens are dedicated users. However, concerns about user privacy have recently been brought into question.

Since Instagram and Snapchat are both based in the United States, they are subject to U.S. law. However, TikTok, which is based in China, is subject to control from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). According to TikTok’s parent, Bytedance, it has access to Americans’ user data stored in the United States and Singapore. A Business Insider report highlights a specific CCP doctrine that forces domestic companies to “‘cooperate’ with the state’s security efforts” and has prompted investigations by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment into the ability of the CCP to access Americans’ user data from Bytedance.

Jericho High School junior Pranav N. thinks that data collection is risky. “If that data gets into the hands of the wrong person, conflict is going to happen,” he said. While he acknowledges many social media companies store user data, the lack of restrictions on the CCP would allow the government to abuse data access.

Pranav N. also thinks that storing user data in the United States would provide greater protection for American users. “If everything was switched over to the U.S., there are at least some laws that prevent people from exploiting the data,” he said. Pranav believes that if Bytedance has access to the data, then the Chinese government gains broad access to Americans’ personal information.

Junior Lizzy V. isn’t alarmed that her data is collected. “I have nothing to hide,” she said. Lizzy thinks that there wasn’t much important information that anyone using the data would find useful. Although, she prefers that her data is collected within her country of residence. “If someone were to collect information, [I’d] rather it be my own country,” she said. Lizzy envisions possible negative implications of this data, especially if a company is selling it.

At the time of this article’s publication, TikTok has not been banned, and the New York Times stated that a new contract to store data in the U.S. had been negotiated.