I was recently told that TikTok collects invasive data, but can we talk about how much data other apps also take? Truthfully every social media takes data from your devices and your own devices learn what you like and don't like. Let's talk about what data gets sent out from your device every time you log in.
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| Courtesy of versedtech.org |
So, I did in fact join TikTok to promote my future book, but one comment that sounded unlikely had me looking up if the Chinese stole TikTok data. There were articles about it, yet we all still sit on our social media platforms that also take our data. Really, we should be wary of all social media by that standard. The cold, hard reality is that we were made more for face-to-face contact than for online communication (although some of us prefer written messaging).
Why am I on social media after knowing it isn't entirely healthy? You're reading the reason. I couldn't do this without my social media. I couldn't promote my future book without my social media. It is the way of the future, whether we like it or not. It has good qualities that allow me to communicate with friends and simultaneously can waste my time if I sit and scroll (which is not good for your brain in the long run). It is a balancing act. There are good and bad qualities about this technology and media, but it just is without human involvement, which is to say it is good or bad based on what is done with it. Keep that in mind.
Apps taking data
What? Apps take data? Shocker! We should all know this by now. They ask our permission to get into our contact lists, sync our data, get our pictures, use our names, and use our emails. I hate to tell you that we've been tracked since we started using our social media a while ago, but it is absolutely true. TikTok is not the only one giving information to others. Sadly, our favorite webpage Google is tracking even more data.
To put this in perspective, quite a few apps take down a few facts to function, including where you are (GPS on phones), your face and name, your activity on the app, your IP address, and your email. Your apps also track what you like and don't like, which helps them reel you into scrolling on various social media forms. We like when Youtube gives us videos we want and streaming services suggest shows we might want to see. In the process, they learn our habits to get that data. It is a trade-off in the end.
Worried? Some of you might be. Most of us should be. Sadly the apps taking more data than they need are commonly used and used by all ages at that. Do they legally have to ask? Yes, they do. Regardless, some have not at times. Internet safety says don't give out personal information on the internet and especially if it looks a bit suspect. This is why all my blog readers didn't hear about my wedding until after and we were back from honeymoon by that time. This is why I don't go bragging about my address on the blog and have blocked some of the people who have messaged me inappropriately. Think before you give out personal info. Pushy people are often scam artists. If you are afraid to use the internet, go get a VPN to scramble your data and you'll be fine. It can even give you media from other countries, which is insanely cool.
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| Courtesy of cybersecurity.att.com |
Why Apps Take Data
There are three main reasons that apps need the data, starting with identification. Why can your face or your fingerprint scan open your phone? It has the data to identify you, of course. If you want that you get some added security in case someone steals your device, while also trading some data in return with your permission.
Reason two is simply that it requires something to work at all, like access to your pictures and camera to post TikToks and Instagram photos, or access to contact lists to send a message through a chat app. It'd be rather hard to call mom if the connection wasn't there. Uber can't get to your house without an address, much like pizza can't get to you without an address. You've got the point by now.
The third is where you might want to be a bit more careful. They do track you and third parties get information from these apps. Those pop-ups from a website you just visited are not coincidences. This is called ad targeting. It doesn't need much explanation. Apple is famous for tracking data that it didn't need to track. Apparently, so it TikTok. Scarily enough, a lot of them do this. Count how many times ads from websites you visited pop up on your social media and Google homepage. Go ahead. You'll be slightly scared by Google's reach.
There is a fourth reason, which includes marketing research, public relations research, and generally seeing if the app works correctly. So, general function is a factor and gets tracked. This is why they can fix the app and website when it goes down. They can also improve the app or website with this data, which is good.
There Are Laws
You know what's great? Communication and transparency, which people want more of as the world starts to show its true colors. This is why you have to be entirely transparent about data use to get your app in an app store. That doesn't mean people don't track data on the sly (some do). It does mean that you can avoid data being stolen from you if you read the fine print. Most of us don't have the patience if we're truly honest.
What isn't great is that selling to third parties makes money, which means the transparency we cry out for is not what the businesses want to do. Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Snap.......They all lost money due to transparency. Those transparency rules lead to a better internet and fewer invasions of privacy for us, though, so I'm all for it. Hackers can skirt this law, obviously, but hacking is a whole new issue.
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| Courtesy of memegenerator.net |
Is this data dangerous? Maybe if you don't have a backbone. People are out to influence other people, surprising no one who has ever encountered the human race. Fake news and personalized ads are out there. Some of us can identify it some of the time. Some of us just can't and look like total idiots after we find out we've been duped. Some don't even acknowledge that they were duped, which is far worse than admitting your imperfection. Do your research before believing any headline you come across online or anything that shows up online. Don't rush to believe what you've been told. Con artists want you to rush into things headlong. Slow down and check the facts before you react. Think, breathe, and then make decisions.
Some Data To Prove You Are Being Tracked
When you look at the data out there on who is tracking whom you might be forced to admit that you've been tracked since you started using social media, or since you went onto google or shopped online. The internet is tracking you. I'm sorry. TikTok could be taking data to another country, but they are not the first to sell your data and will not be the last. Facebook is actually worse than TikTok on this count.
According to Artem Risukhin, who collected research on personal data on December 12, 2022, Google has eyes everywhere, as in 85.6 percent of the websites. There are google trackers on 85.6 percent of websites. Facebook has trackers on 33 percent of websites. Ad tracking is real. Also, google wants to show you personalized content. All analyzed social media forms also store and sell your information to advertisers, vendors, and business partners. Wechat and Facebook messenger are the biggest offenders of taking data in the messaging category. Wechat gathers content and media on your device.
The general things social media tracks include name, age, site interaction, transaction info, device info, location, search history, camera data, third party related trackers, and ad interaction. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok track all that. Youtube tracks all except camera data. Twitter tracks all except the device, third party trackers, and camera data. Messengers take less data, but still take impressive amounts of data. If you need a chat app avoid Wechat, as it takes chat content, while other messenger apps don't. Stick to texting if you are legitimately nervous about chat apps.
Third parties can include advertisers, ad-affiliated sites, law authorities, research/academics, data measurement companies, and vendors/service providers. Facebook and Instagram give to all these third parties. Youtube only gives to advertisers, ad-affiliated sites, and law authorities. TikTok gives to advertisers, law authorities, and vendors/service providers. Twitter gives to advertisers and law authorities. So far, Twitter gives the least to third parties and TikTok is not the worst social media when it comes to selling to third parties. It turns out that anyone on the internet using Google has probably been tracked. Now you know how they know you bought (insert object here) off of (insert website here). Mystery solved!
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