Everyone collects our data… Apple, Google, third party apps… everyone. So what is the really concern with China doing it specifically? Everything I have tried to read about this just talks about how China will use it for ads, but that’s what tons of other tech companies are already doing… so why is China owning our data different?
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A few things they could do:
1. Share information with the Chinese government. The Chinese government has a much more direct line with domestic companies than we do. So this is something Apple/Google would have more autonomy to resist from US.
2. Use the data to develop better technology. AI is famous for requiring enormous amounts of data. And TikTok, between its content and its usage patterns, is a goldmine of data. The US obviously would prefer the best technologies to be controlled by US companies.
3. Have targeted monitoring of key figures. Nuclear silo employees, ambassadors, congressmen, company executives, celebrities, etc. They may potentially collect – content viewed, viewing times and patterns, GPS location, … Any of these might be helpful to intelligence campaigns.
4. Push selected content. Having a viewership of an entire country’s youth is very powerful. It would be easy to start a propaganda campaign and influence kids to be pro or anti certain issues. For example if every 20th video they push a short clip about how peaceful China is.
The crux of the argument is that China uniquely has very direct influence over its domestic companies. Couple that with TikTok being a top platform in the top technological subcategory, and this is why people are concerned.
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