TikTok and Privacy - Part 1

More than 1.5 billion people use TikTok worldwide. Nearly one-third of the world's internet users are on the ultra popular short-form video hosting app. In 2022, TikTok was the most downloaded app on earth.

But what is TikTok doing with all of this user data? Is it really just a harmless app for watching silly dancing videos? Or is there more to the story?

In Part 1 of this 2-part Privacy Files series on TikTok and privacy, we review the origin story of TikTok's parent company, ByteDance. Did you know before there was TikTok, there was a headline news app? The real story of TikTok is its powerful algorithm--an algorithm so good it can learn what you like to watch in as little as one hour.

But is the TikTok algorithm also leading to app addiction? Users frequently confess to losing track of time as they spend hours in the app every day. And the longer a user interacts with the app, the more data that can be collected, and the more TikTok knows about you.

We also cover the brilliant marketing strategy ByteDance employed for successfully rolling out TikTok to the entire world.

To wrap up Part 1, we examine the global backlash TikTok has received from countries like India and the United States, as questions mount about data privacy, explicit content, whether or not the app is a surveillance tool for the Chinese government.

Links Referenced:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djk159kLBwA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJl975ya-U

https://open.spotify.com/episode/489chEayb8doxqCYbrgjRs?si=FCPSvAl2SXOOPHiasFk8uQ

https://www.engadget.com/googles-privacy-focused-ad-tracking-solution-hits-android-in-beta-170003961.html

https://www.engadget.com/2014-07-22-canvas-fingerprint-web-tracking.html?uuid=f1w3CakTaeMkJgmO8625

https://www.demandsage.com/tiktok-user-statistics/

https://www.adweek.com/social-marketing/move-over-google-tiktok-is-the-go-to-search-engine-for-gen-z/

https://massmediandculture.com/douyin-the-new-chinese-propaganda-machine/

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