by The US House of Representatives voted 352-65 on March 13, 2024, to require TikTok’s parent company, China-based ByteDance, to sell the app or face a national ban on TikTok. President Joe Biden said on March 8 that he would sign the legislation if it reached his desk.
The popular video social media app had 149 million users in the US as of January 2024. Many of them contacted Congress to protest whether it could be banned.
The bill’s fate in the Senate is unclear. It is also unclear whether any resulting legislation would stand up to a court challenge.
On May 17, 2023, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte passed legislation banning TikTok in the state, the first outright ban by a US state government. The law would impose fines of US $ 10,000 per day on any app store that offers TikTok and on the app maker itself if it operates in the state. Individual users would not be subject to penalties. The law was set to go into effect on January 1, 2024, but a federal judge blocked it pending a trial to determine whether the state overstepped its authority and whether the law violates the First Amendment.
The federal government, along with many state and foreign governments and some companies, have already banned TikTok from work-providing phones. This type of ban can be effective in protecting data related to government work.
But a complete national ban on the app is another matter, which raises several questions: What data privacy risk does TikTok pose? What could the Chinese government do with the data the app collects? Is its content recommendation algorithm dangerous? Is it legal for a government to completely ban the app? And is it even possible to ban an app?
Data vacuuming
As a cybersecurity researcher, I’ve noticed that every few years a new, popular mobile app raises questions of security, privacy, and data access.
Applications collect data for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the data is used to improve the app for users. However, most apps collect data that the companies use in part to finance their operations. This revenue usually comes from targeting users with ads based on the data they collect. The questions this data usage raises are: Does the app need all this data? What does it do with the data? And how does it protect the data from others?
So what makes TikTok different from the likes of Pokemon-GO, Facebook or even your own phone? A good place to start is TikTok’s privacy policy, which not many people read. Overall, the company is not particularly transparent about its practices. The document is too long to list here all the data it collects, and that should be a warning.
There are some items of interest in TikTok’s privacy policy other than the information you provide when you create an account – name, age, username, password, language, email, phone number, social media account information and profile image – that are of concern. This information includes location data, data from your clipboard, contact information, website tracking, as well as all data you post and messages you send through the app. The company claims that current versions of the app do not collect GPS information from US users.
If most apps collect data, why are governments worried about TikTok? First of all, they worry about the Chinese government accessing data from 150 million TikTok users in the United States There are also concerns about the algorithms that TikTok uses to display content.
Data in the hands of the Chinese government
If the data ends up in the hands of the Chinese government, the question is how it could use the data to its advantage. The government could share it with other companies in China to help them make a profit, which is no different than US companies sharing marketing data. The Chinese government is known to play the long game, and data is power, so if it is collecting data, it could take years to learn how it benefits China.
One potential threat is the Chinese government using the data to spy on people, especially people with access to valuable information. The Department of Justice is investigating TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, for using the app to monitor US journalists. The Chinese government has an extensive history of hacking US government agencies and corporations, and much of that hacking has been facilitated by social engineering – the practice of using data about people to trick them into revealing more information.
The second issue raised by the US government is algorithm bias or algorithm manipulation. TikTok and most social media apps have algorithms designed to learn user interests and then try to adjust the content so that the user continues to use the app. TikTok hasn’t shared its algorithm, so it’s unclear how the app selects user content.
The algorithm may be biased in a way that influences a population to believe certain things. There are many allegations that TiKTok’s algorithm is biased and can reinforce negative thoughts among young users, and that it will be used to influence public opinion. The manipulative behavior of the algorithm may be unintentional, but there are concerns that the Chinese government is using or could use the algorithm to influence people.
Can a government ban an app?
Montana’s pending law aims to use fines to pressure companies to enforce its ban. It’s unclear whether companies will comply, and it’s unlikely that this would stop users from getting solutions.
Meanwhile, if the federal government concludes that TikTok should be banned, is it even possible to ban its existing 149 million US users? Any such ban would likely be initiated by blocking the distribution of the app through the Apple and Google app stores. This may keep many users off the platform, but there are other ways to download and install apps for people who are determined to use them.
A more drastic method would be to force Apple and Google to change their phones to prevent TikTok from running. Although I’m not a lawyer, I think this effort would fail due to legal challenges, including First Amendment concerns. The bottom line is that a total ban will be difficult to implement.
There are also questions about how effective a ban would be even if it were possible. According to some estimates, the Chinese government has already collected personal information on at least 80% of the US population through various means. So a ban may limit the damage in the future to some extent, but the Chinese government has already collected a significant amount of data. The Chinese government – like anyone else with money – also has access to the big market for personal data, prompting calls for stronger data privacy rules.
Are you at risk?
So, as an average user, should you be worried? Again, it’s unclear what data ByteDance is collecting and whether it could harm an individual. I believe that the most significant risks are for people in power, whether political power or within a company. Their data and information could be used to gain access to other data or to compromise the organizations involved.
The aspect of TikTok that worries me the most is the algorithm that determines what video users see and how it can affect vulnerable groups, especially young people. Regardless of a ban, families should have conversations about TikTok and other social media platforms and how they can be harmful to mental health. These conversations should focus on how to determine if the app is leading you down an unhealthy path.
This is an updated version of an article originally published on 23 March 2023, and updated on 18 May 2023.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a non-profit, independent news organization that brings you reliable facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. Written by: Doug Jacobson, Iowa State University
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Doug Jacobson does not work for, consult with, share in, or be funded by any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no material affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
