How security pros use TikTok without handing over personal data to China
I’ve been saying it for months: Get TikTok off your phone.
It’s not the only China-based app you need to worry about. Temu, the app that lets you “shop like a billionaire,” isn’t worth the deals. Here’s why — and what to do if you’ve been using it.
If you still want to use TikTok, you can without handing over all your information to communist China.
Why not just use the app?
Plain and simple, TikTok is a national security threat. The Chinese-owned social media platform’s parent company ByteDance is based in Beijing and is required by Chinese law to give the government access to collected data.
TikTok collects data that includes search and browsing history, facial ID, voice prints, texts, location, and photos.
Though government agencies and even the entire state of Montana have banned the social media app, it’s still incredibly popular — used by about two-thirds of teens in the U.S.
What are your options?
Browsing TikTok on the web won’t cut it. There’s still a significant amount of tracking.
Your best buy is buying a low-cost smartphone, sometimes called a burner phone. You don’t need anything fancy since this is just for social media. A super basic cheap Android phone works just fine.
Turn on the phone and set it up, but here’s the trick: Don’t link it to any of your primary accounts.
Start fresh
Are facial recognition cams like the ones in China coming to a store near you?
Get ready for an Orwellian shopping experience in New York City. Thanks to criminals claiming the five-finger discount, you’ll have to kiss your privacy goodbye. Chinese-made facial recognition cameras will scan your face to see if you’re a criminal.
Another reason not to download TikTok: Fake version steals passwords, reads texts
It’s no exaggeration to say that TikTok is in hot water in the U.S. The app has been accused of being a national security threat by the Trump Administration — and now, American company Oracle has swooped in to potentially manage the app’s data going forward. If this new plan isn’t’ able to come together, TikTok and its assets will be banned from the U.S.