China & Many Others Stealing Your Data.
Bill Gates’ protégés have always had access to your data. | Hackers of data are not just confined to foreign countries.
Many internet users worldwide are clueless when it comes to technology. Scrolling along, liking, and posting, not knowing the ramifications behind that screen or don’t care. With every post, they’re lusting to reach viral crescendos that peak at 15 mins. Every day, the young and old are falling for social medias traps, hoaxes, and sensationalism. Not only Americans but worldwide, people don’t read instructions, documentation, or terms of service. Most don’t realize that once you sign your name to agree to terms of service, it is nonreversible. As a software developer, it is imperative to read all documentation to become efficient. That’s not to sound pretentious but to provide a sprinkle of wisdom to be in the knowledge of this internet realm. Treat this realm like educators have always preached, check over your work, read twice, and prepare.
President Trump has invoked fear in many that the Chinese government is doing outrageous things with our data. Will this wake up many Americans to what’s going on with their precious data, or will things go in one ear and out the other? Hopefully that you too share the information of this article with those that can use it. The harvesting and monetary gain of your data was once a figment of nostalgic sci-fi movies but has touched earth in a real way far longer than many realize.
According to a report by app intelligence company Sensor Tower, Chinese and American apps dominated the downloads, where 9 out of 10 apps on the list are owned by companies from these two countries.
Bill Gates’ roots in China are eminent
“People should pay attention to China, it is a phenomenon in every respect.” — Bill Gates (2004)
Gates will usually shy away from political issues, but that doesn’t mean that he is a saint and isn’t somewhat involved. It’s a no-brainer that Trump would suggest Gates purchase a portion of the ByteDance platform. Deep-rooted relationships like this have to be inevitably hard on Gates’ mental state. It’s synonymous with a man trying to cater to his wife and, at the same time, indulge with his inamoratas. Many would suggest Trump’s decision derived from evidence of Gates’s net worth, but Microsoft’s roots have been a staple in Asia ever since the late 90s. While MRA has been around since 1998, it has produced the most talented innovators in Asia. A few prominent names that came from Microsoft Research Asia: Wang Jian, CTO of Alibaba, Tencent AI lab’s director Dong Yu, co-founder and CEO SenseTime AI lab Xu Li. Bill made it a priority to only recruit the most awe-inspiring talent. Bill saw a more significant opportunity for global dominance in China while at any moral cost. Other data miners like Google couldn’t take China’s alleged government hacks as well as their censorship rules, so they left in 2009.
There are numerous Chinese created apps in our smartphones app store. Like Alibaba, Vmate (2016), Cam Scanner, etc. If our national security is at threat, why are these Chinese owned apps able to gain our information. Is it because of government ties?
Most of WeChat users are Chinese Americans. The reason is that China’s censorship system restricts citizens from directly visiting a considerable amount of the internet and bans easy access to most other major Western chat programs. Only a small number of Americans use WeChat; therefore, a ban would frustrate those who use the app to communicate with friends, family, or business associates in China, while in search of a new app.
You said goodbye to privacy decades ago
The Wall Street Journal let us know that the ByteDance company’s Android app collected users’ MAC addresses for 18 months in violation of its terms of service. The 100 billion-dollar company, according to private trading markets, has said it doesn’t share data with the Chinese government and wouldn’t do so if asked. That’s hard to believe knowing how social media apps give up, on average, at least 50% of data to law enforcement. I find it laughable that the ByteDance company wants us to believe local law enforcement has more pull than the government.
Data mining began in the 1990s but is on unprecedented levels now that 5 billion worldwide have access to a smartphone. Terms of service confinements are quickly deceiving in communicating how your data is passed around. Still, it is imperative to understand that contracts’ subsist of misconceptions and technicalities so that one can debate it in court. More importantly, deals are dishonored.
What if I was also to tell you the U.S. government did the same thing and deemed it lawful. We should be sickened by decade after decade the powers that be will piss on our head, and the media will tell us it’s raining. Shouldn’t there be way more things that trigger an International Emergency Economic Power Act than the banning of TikTok? Wouldn’t the Social Security Trust fund be of more importance? Since trust funds could run out of money as early as 2029, which would result in beneficiaries losing 31% of income.
CIA analysts informed the White House even though it is possible for the Chinese government to access TikTok user data, there is “no evidence” that it has done so, according to the New York Times.
Just a while ago, police where using TikTok to surveillance the George Floyd protestors. Law enforcement is no stranger in using social media as an outlet to catch the uncatchable. Things began to weep of cynicism when the government began to hire contractors to put tracking scripts in some of our favorite apps. In the 2018 Carpenter v. United States case, the Supreme Court ruled those federal agencies need a warrant before they can mine individual cell location data.
Well, Locate X ditches warrants for an SDK to do just that. Locate X from Babel Street, and apps alike debunk any nuance of privacy we have left by creating a geofence around your property as well the layout of your routine commutes. Jack over at OneZero can guide you in the best way to disable significant locations temporarily, but be cognizant that doesn’t erase the months, even years worth of data in the archives.
Are TikTok’s espionage activities more egregious than Facebook or The ABC company and especially Microsoft? Facebook and google are newbs in the data breaching game compared to Microsoft’s half of the century run. Is this finally an opportunity for the government to gain infrequent access to a data powerhouse? Imagine if the Treasury were to acquire stock in the company and all the cynical privacy concerns. It would be like an appetizer seeing how they’ve wanted to have access to billions of data worldwide. It’s a great avenue to gaining analytical data to make the rich even more precious. We all know Trump was butthurt about Gen z TikToks rally situation. But he didn’t dare to retaliate until the China, India border wall conflict.
One executive order affecting millions
Two of the biggest technology economies in the world are vying for that top spot. The executive order affects many businesses in the U.S. and has contemplated many limiting interactions.
Spotify, American Eagle, and Chipotle, just to name a few, will all be affected by this one order. Top influencers bring in millions from brand deals, and all that could be in jeopardy. To counter that, Zhang Yiming and co. have birthed a creative fund that will give out cash to its top creators. Lets not even mention the feeling of some music executives who thought they’d found a cheat code with the platform, but look no further Facebook is here, like always, to take your product and make it their own.
Reels Facebook’s innovation is also giving out cash to TikTok’s top stars. I’m pretty sure Reels will be just as popular as their stories feature they took from Snapchat. There will inevitably be more TikTok clones; just take a look in the app store! Likee, another Chinese company, has recently surpassed 150 million monthly users at the end of June. Unlike TikTok and even other big socials, Likee’s influencers can receive virtual gifts from fans. India has banned TikTok and Likee, could we see the ban of Likee in the U.S. soon? If so, the massively used app Alibaba could be next also.
President Donald Trump mentioned that it would not be troublesome if Microsoft were to buy Chinese-owned TikTok in its entirety, rather than biding for a portion of the social video app, because the name will be cut in half across two companies. He knows how difficult this change will be and is enjoying all 45 days while many scrambles to their next move. Graphic designers, video editors, managers, agents, etc. are all affected.
Also evident in how he had the gall to propose that the company should pay the U.S. Treasury as part of the deal. What’s his optimal way to get even, those pocketbooks! Microsoft can only acquire less than a third of TikTok. What does that mean for advertisement, investors, etc.? Twitter also threw their hat in the ring.
The battle for tech’s most profitable powerhouses
The lawsuit will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California and will argue that President Trump’s order was unconstitutional. The administration’s accusations that TikTok poses a threat to security and data privacy are baseless.
The ramifications of the lawsuit should be a wise lesson to future social media startups. TikTok’s CEO has had a rough year and decid
The document is available here.
Things will never be the same; it seems like the theme for 2020 that keeps going like the internet’s inevitable memes.
There will inevitably be a TikTok clone coming soon. Facebook has already whipped out their show stopper Reels, hosted by The Gram (Instagram). The dance app has caught backlash for the spread of misinformation regarding the coronavirus, but trump has also felt backlash regarding him partaking in such evils as well. So isn’t this a huge contradiction? (Talk about and Twitter spread of misinformation, violence, prejudice, porn) Whoever buys TikTok will have an advertising powerhouse if constructed like is.
“The more the U.S. advances the idea of cutting off one country or another from the Internet in the way we use it, the more that type of scrutiny could come back and be applied to American companies as well,” — Graham Webster, editor in chief of the Stanford–New America DigiChina Project at the Stanford University Cyber Policy Center, told VOA.
Conclusion
Many of us just scroll past the legal fine print to gain access to our favorite socials. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, but understanding and knowledge will help you make an optimal decision depending on your priorities, of course. Everyone has that favorite social media app and its imperative that if you spend more than an hour on it, find a way to monetize your content. Because if you are going to give up your highly valuable data willingly, you can at least profit off of something. Many brands are giving out deals left and right. Think about your dreams and aspirations; they will be assisted by learning from the prominent data miners. You don’t have to be as big as Facebook to live luxuriously!
Privacy is an instrument of yesteryear, lost to be never experienced forevermore on the grid.
