Tik Tok lawsuit & social media’s unethical search for data
we told our Independent thinkers that Corporations stealing data will become the newest lawsuit trend.. Misty Hong downloaded the tik tok app but never created an account. Now tik tok is facing a lawsuit by hong.
If thats the case how did her private unpublished videos get released? Ms. Hong is suing Tik Tok for violation of right to privacy violation of computer fraud and abuse amongst other allegations.
Social media ethics and rules and guidelines are so strict to ensure fairness for all its users. Social media attempts to create boundaries or censor material deemed offensive to others. Yet, the users privacy are always at risk and in this case potentially abused by the social media company.
“DATA WILL ECLIPSE LAND AND MACHINES AS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASSETS AND POLITICS WILL STRUGGLE TO CONTROL THE FLOW OF DATA.” AUTHOR YUVAL NOAH HARRAR
From 21 lessons for the 21st century book
Tik tok has been the most downloaded app on google and apple for months. In fact, it has been the average user opens Tik Tok 8 times a day and spends 45 mins a day on it. Zuckerburg calls it the first Chinese app to achieve worldwide success..The Tik Tok App Surreptitiously Takes Users’ Private Videos Before Users are Even Given the Choice Whether to Save or Post Them.
Furthermore the lawsuit claims that tik tok gathers users data and tracks them online habits for ads. Ad revenue is the main source of income for tik tok which grossed $80 million for in-app purchases as of April 2019.
For those who see this as harmless, imagine facebook posting your private videos you sent to a friend. You’re on a “social media” break and months later come to find you timeline flooded due to private information or explicit videos being shared.
Without your consent.
Tik Tok could claim that it was an error or bug. However, the fact that Hong hadn’t been on social media for months leads us to believe they saw it as an opportunity to post videos that would help them generate revenue.
This capitalistic tunnel vision mentality is very dangerous. For several reasons, Tik Tok being the most downloaded app in the world, ever over facebook exposes social media compaines lack of contentment. If you have the most users in the world, why do you need to publish private videos of an account that been inactive for months?.
Tik Tok is mostly used by those under 20. “Make your day” is the phrase used to promote the fun lip-synching app. However behind the light hearted appeal and marketing of tik tok is that fact that its a business at the end of the day.
In conclusion, social media sounds like a fun place to meet like minded individuals, to connect with a tribe of people that maybe difficult to find where you live. However, never let this disguise the fact that in a capitalistic society money will always come first. Social media apps misled their users by giving the illusion that connecting via online can replace connecting in real life.
At least this is what the users grow to believe over time subconsciously. Tik Tok has even offered to pay new employees 20% more than its amazon, facebook and youtube competitors. To make matters worse the lawsuit claims the users data is being sent to china serves, at ali baba. Ali baba is considered by many to be the Chinese version of Amazon. If you haven’t read;
21 lessons for the 21st century
We highly recommend all of these books for not only digital defense but for a peace of mind in a distracted world.
Let us know your thoughts on this case below. Does the Tik Tok lawsuit change how you use social media?