Hypocrisy of Apps Using Our Data

Written by: JDKC Editorial

The pandemic has emphasized the boredom of teenagers all over the world. This is most obvious
by the uprising global social media platform TikTok. TikTok is a video sharing social network
service that originated in Beijing and originally owned by the Chinese company, ByteDance.
During the pandemic, TikTok surpassed 2 billion downloads worldwide according to apps
analytics firm Sensor Tower. This raised concerns regarding the national security among U.S
users as they have access to personal information of its users. President Trump first threatened to
ban TikTok from the U.S in early July and then doubled down on his statement later in the
month saying it should be banned “within the next 24 hours”. Shortly after this statement,
Amazon and a number of other major tech companies showed interest in purchasing the apps U.S
services. On September 14, 2020 the app was finally purchased by the U.S computer tech
corporation, Oracle.

This should raise concerns for Americans and big companies since it points out the hypocrisy of
our U.S government. The U.S is letting their bias against communist countries influence
Americans interactions with non-american companies. Trump already voiced his hostility
towards China and TikTok in early July when he said he would ban them as a punishment for
being the start of the coronavirus pandemic and he is using TikTok to express is displeasement
with communist Chinese government. There are plenty of other apps and companies that take our
data and sell it and have no repercussions.

Take Spotify for example. According to an article on Bigthink.com, Spotify not only sells our
data, but there is a chance they use it to control our emotions. It talks about how once it figures
out our favorite songs or our age, they can use that information to control what we hear and play
music that can release a dopamine effect when we go shopping to make us spend more money.
This sounds far-fetched, but it makes a good point. If Spotify sells our data to companies like
Amazon or Apple and they know when we are shopping or any other activity that involves
spending money, they could easily find out when we are making our decisions and play a song
we like to influence us. Now how is something like this okay, but TikTok selling our information
to China is not okay? We feel like American-based companies having our data to use in that way
is as, if not more, dangerous than China having our TikTok data.
Another big app accused of selling data is Facebook; it has been linked to selling 87 million
Facebook users information to a voting company called Cambridge Analytica. The website can
track patrons' information when they like or share posts or by using Facebook Pixel which drops
a code onto other sites allowing Facebook to monitor them. Even Facebook’s data policy
explicitly states the website is allowed to see what websites and apps you visit, the services of
those websites and apps you use and information from the developer of said website or app. The
only difference between this company and TikTok, is this one is in America while the other is in
China; same circumstances, different consequences.
China is seen as one of the strongest leading global technology industries in the world. Chinese
technology has become caught in Trump’s campaign for stricter trade policies against China.
Since 2018, Trump has been working to lessen China’s influence on America’s technology
industries. He has halted China from installing 5G networks in America, banned another app
called WeChat and undid the sale of Grindr to a Chinese company. Although the app WeChat
has been related to actual evidence of censorship and interference, how come Trump is not
forcing them to sell to an American buyer?
Just because TikTok is owned by a different country does not give the President the right to
censor American citizens’ rights to own it. China, being a communist country, has banned
multiple American apps such as Google and Facebook. Are we meant to be as strict as China
now? One of the methods America was founded on is Capitalism which believes the government
should not have control over businesses. Is that not the exact opposite of what Trump is doing
right now?
Many Americans use TikTok to express their opinions and now that Trump has his sights on it,
citizens feel as though their freedom of expression is being ignored. Meanwhile Trump was busy
trying to get a cut out of the deal between Microsoft and TikTok rather than consulting the
American people on their opinion of the sale. It appears Trump knows no boundaries in getting
what he wants: China out of the United States.
America is a melting pot of people and communities and the government should not force the
hands of non- american owned companies for doing the same things that american companies
do. While it makes sense that they are trying to protect american citizens from other countries, in
terms of a business standpoint, it makes no sense. It is almost hypocritical that they allow U.S
companies like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Youtube to continue to gather user search
history and data.
The data that is gathered by these social media apps gather nothing that the U.S should feel
threatened about. The information that is gathered from these sites should not cause fear among
the government.. The information gathered is nothing more than using user history and data to
suggest products and or media that the user might be interested in. This is nothing that could
have a negative effect on the user. On the contrary, the user most likely benefits from these types
of data gatherings. From using the data gathered from the user, the analytics model is designed to
find things the user would like. So this in no way would hinder the user or put their information
in a bad place.

Unfortunately, because of the Trump administration’s decision to ban Tik Tok and WeChat it
might affect future apps from outside of the country that want to hit the U.S market. The
administration had its reasons for concern, but not enough to alter foreign business in the
magnitude that they did. They fear that the chinese government is using these apps to find a way
to U.S intelligence and national security. However, this is highly unlikely and more than likely a
way for the administration to frustrate the chinese nation even more.

The damage that this type of ban could have on foreign businesses could have a lasting effect,
and the consumer would be the ones that suffer. In a nation that prides itself in being open to
everyone and fair to all nations, this hypocritical move hurts that notion. To ban an app simply
based on the grounds of the country of where it was founded, sets a bad precedent for businesses
that want to engage with U.S consumers. It creates a double standard for what American made
apps can do vs non American apps.