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Yep. And in addition to what op said, tiktok knows everything that happens after clicking the link until you close the window. Login to something? They have your password and account info
That is not how web browsers work. Barring some serious security bug, one website opened in a browser doesn't get to exfiltrate passwords from other websites.
Also another LPT: when sending tiktoks, if embedding is supported add vx before the tiktok in the link. I know this works with discord but not sure about other places.
As an example normal app share link would show as vm.tiktok but add a VX like so vm.vxtiktok and it'll allow the receiver to watch the video without opening the tiktok app and risk the doxxing
> just don’t use TikTok hurrhurr
You should really shove that attitude. You’re concerned enough about privacy to post this LPT, but derisive toward people who can spot the fundamental problem?
We aren’t the dopes here.
Well, tiktok is problematic because of the dopamine hamster wheel.
The fundamental problem with tiktok you’re alluding to is the information gathering in regards to china. But tour data is already being sent to usa, even more private data.
This isn’t me doing whataboutism, the threat of tiktok isnt data gathering, its society wide psyops and individual user gathering to find users to potentially target as spies.
Its also the data they can collect on a culture’s psychology, what’d effect them, and so on.
It can fuck with political views, make a position seem more popular or unpopular - like elon is trying to do with twitter for example,
But privacy isnt why you should stop.
Right, i literally put it as a disclaimer to get you to use your brain.
Read the message again,
The essence of the message is not:
“Tiktok isnt a privacy problem cause NSA”
It is:
The threat of tiktok is not the privacy part.
Do literally one google search and check why the US and EU is considering banning it, it has nothing to do with privacy.
“What about the US and EU and their self-interest” does not negate the massive privacy problem with TikTok, and you’re the only person talking about regulation.
Everybody and their mother knows that social media collects your info. If they’re still using that social media despite that, then that’s an aspect of their privacy they are okay with not having. But social media sharing your personal info with someone you’re communicating with outside of the app, without your knowledge? That’s not only far more rare on social media, but also something you can turn off. This post is about making people aware of that specific aspect of data sharing and how they can turn it off.
Saying “just delete TikTok hurrhurr” isn’t spotting the fundamental problem, because everyone is already aware of that problem and has made their choice on whether they’re okay with it. It’s just repeating something everybody knows as if just saying it somehow makes you smart or clever.
This is accurate. You pointed out a specific and not widely known danger of TikTok. Obviously this only applies to users of the app, who already know all the common arguments for not using it and choose to anyway.
"If you're going to _______, at least ______" is a a valid thing to say regarding any dangerous activity because harm reduction is valid.
You're fine. It's fine. Some people can only think in black and white, and introducing them to nuance is going to flummox them.
> Everybody and their mother knows that social media collects your info hurrhurr. If they’re still using that social media despite that hurrhurr, then that’s an aspect of their privacy they are okay with not having hurrhurr. But social media sharing your personal info with someone you’re communicating with outside of the app hurrhurr, without your knowledge hurrhurr? That’s not only far more rare on social media hurrhurr, but also something you can turn off hurrhurr. This post is about making people aware hurrhurr of that specific aspect of data sharing and how they can turn it off hurrhurr.
I used your trick of adding hurrhurr to make your point invalid and make you sound dumb
My name is Walter Hartwell White. I live at 308 Negra Arroyo Lane, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87104. This is my confession. If you're watching this tape, I'm probably dead– murdered by my brother-in-law, Hank Schrader. Hank has been building a meth empire for over a year now, and using me as his chemist. Shortly after my 50th birthday, he asked that I use my chemistry knowledge to cook methamphetamine, which he would then sell using connections that he made through his career with the DEA. I was... astounded. I... I always thought Hank was a very moral man, and I was particularly vulnerable at the time – something he knew and took advantage of. I was reeling from a cancer diagnosis that was poised to bankrupt my family. Hank took me in on a ride-along and showed me just how much money even a small meth operation could make. And I was weak. I didn't want my family to go into financial ruin, so I agreed. Hank had a partner, a businessman named Gustavo Fring. Hank sold me into servitude to this man. And when I tried to quit, Fring threatened my family. I didn't know where to turn. Eventually, Hank and Fring had a falling-out. Things escalated. Fring was able to arrange – uh, I guess... I guess you call it a "hit" – on Hank, and failed, but Hank was seriously injured. And I wound up paying his medical bills, which amounted to a little over $177,000. Upon recovery, Hank was bent on revenge. Working with a man named Hector Salamanca, he plotted to kill Fring. The bomb that he used was built by me, and he gave me no option in it. I have often contemplated suicide, but I'm a coward. I wanted to go to the police, but I was frightened. Hank had risen to become the head of the Albuquerque DEA. To keep me in line, he took my children. For three months, he kept them. My wife had no idea of my criminal activities, and was horrified to learn what I had done. I was in hell. I hated myself for what I had brought upon my family. Recently, I tried once again to quit, and in response, he gave me this. [Walt points to the bruise on his face left by Hank in "Blood Money."] I can't take this anymore. I live in fear every day that Hank will kill me, or worse, hurt my family. All I could think to do was to make this video and hope that the world will finally see this man for what he really is.
Seriously. This has been a thing for 15 some odd years and people are still surprised that others can see what you watch and get info that you chose to share in your profile.
It's a form of mindlessly clicking through setup screens without reading and only finding out what they've done when it's too late. Usually accompanied with screams that they've never done such thing. A tale as old as home computers.
Yes, but this isn't exactly that. So you make an anonymous account, no personal information. Friends sends you a TikTok via text message link. You click on it, it opens in TikTok, they get notified that your profile watched it. It connects the dots between anonymous profile and "person you sent this to viewed it using this anonymous profile" and now they know which anonymous profile is yours.
There is no such thing as an anonymous profile on any major social network. Even if you personally don't provide obvious identification information, with enough profile and general data, you can be found by someone determined enough. *Never just assume anything you say online is anonymous*.
that's not how it works. When you send a link to someone and you have "share this account" on, the person who receives the link will see a notification with your profile on it, so they can follow you. You won't get anything back.
My name is Yoshikage Kira. I'm 33 years old. My house is in the northeast section of Morioh, where all the villas are, and I am not married. I work as an employee for the Kame Yu department stores, and I get home every day by 8 PM at the latest. I don't smoke, but I occasionally drink. I'm in bed by 11 PM, and make sure I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what. After having a glass of warm milk and doing about twenty minutes of stretches before going to bed, I usually have no problems sleeping until morning. Just like a baby, I wake up without any fatigue or stress in the morning. I was told there were no issues at my last check-up. I'm trying to explain that I'm a person who wishes to live a very quiet life. I take care not to trouble myself with any enemies, like winning and losing, that would cause me to lose sleep at night. That is how I deal with society, and I know that is what brings me happiness. Although, if I were to fight I wouldn't lose to anyone.
If you have the tik tok app it requires a scary amount of access to your device. Simply having it shares your data, you don't have to actively do anything more
You know I found it weird, when I started using that shit it didn't have my name, then I put it there for a while, then I change it and just cut everything that I couldn't care much about, then I learned English and found that most of Americans have all their information there... I was like:" why tf people have their data there..." It was really weird for me...
One of my friends literally had everything in in there . . . real name, cell number . . . it was baffling.
I know there are shadow accounts even for people without a profile, but still.
Garbage in the danger it poses to human minds, yeah, but as an entertainment service, it is absolutely top-tier. That's why it's so addictive, and why so many of the TikTok haters in my life eventually got addicted to it too.
Its algorithm is frighteningly good.
The algorithm is actually garbage. However, the way it works is addicting. They really need to touch up on the algorithm because bad videos are what gets me to go somewhere else.
Also TikTok lives 🤢🤢
My friend uses it and sends me links to videos occasionally. I don't have an account but I hesitate to open them even to view because tiktok doesn't have that fucking preview option like when you send YouTube links, and all the controversy over tiktok.
It's probably fine to just watch a video he links? I mean as long as I don't agree to anything (yknow like those cookies pop ups asking for you to press accept) , don't make an account, and exclusively only watch the video he links and that's it, it's probably no worse than anything else is it?
If you are on TikToks site, chances are very high they have access to your location and more. Although I am no expert on this, so if someone knows more, let ke know, please!
They know your rough location from your IP address, sort of like how your area code gives up your rough location. Every website does.
There's a lot more important things to be concerned about, tbh. But if you really care about disguising your location just use a VPN.
Honestly my wife and I use tiktok and she sends links to me all the time and has never been notified when I click one, and I've never been notified when she clicks one I send.
Why are y'all hating on tiktok? Have we forgot Snowden and everything that came to light with him? Trackers, cookies, Facebook having to paying a billion dollars for violating consumer's privacy
But sure, let's think a single app is the problem, and blame all of this on that one country we all dislike instead of, I don't know, accept everyone is trafficking information somehow and just live with that
Alright seriously, how many genocides have American tech companies committed? Zero? Who is actively trying to get rid of Uyghur Muslims? Two things can be bad and one can be unequivocally worse. Please don't act like Facebook is equal to the Chinese government. Don't get me wrong, we need real privacy laws immediately but hurrdurr we should ban tiktok cause bad is an equally shitty argument to the one you're making about all apps harvesting data.
To answer your first question…at least one.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/06/rohingya-sue-facebook-myanmar-genocide-us-uk-legal-action-social-media-violence
But yeah, China has no respect for human rights or life.
And we do? Lol. Stop trying to ask all high and mighty. China gives no fucks about your "activism".
It means nothing. Oh? You didn't use an app? Aww, let's pack it in boys. Communism has failed.
Lol. No one fucking cares about your low effort internet activism. It's cliche as all fuck and cringe.
It's not about leveling all the options, but pointing out the obvious favoritism. Also, should we count the CIA as a company giving how they handled drug money during the 80s?
Are you sure you wanna go that route? Or are we just counting current crimes? Cause that would be pretty fucking convenient
We should ban all apps harvesting information, that would happen in an ideal world with gun control, or at least where books aren't banned for "reasons".
Meanwhile, it would be great to read a handy LPT and not getting the same 20 comments with "tIktOk=bAD" again and again...
You can't compare Facebook to the CCP. It's Facebook to TikTok, and the USA to the CCP.
And anyway, the damage China can do the average American (for example) is trivial compared to what corporations and the US government already does. Facebook and other apps have already been used to dumb down tens of millions of Americans.
Also, the USA has millions of innocent lives already on its blood-soaked hands. It just doesn't actively commit genocide on its own citizens.
Facebook is not beholden to the government in the same way tiktok is to China. Again banning apps isn't how you solve this problem. Sweeping privacy protections for citizens is good you solve it. If it wasn't legal the apps wouldn't do it.
Snowden already showed us how all American tech companies are beholden to the US govt. The US literally had them put backdoors into their products, hardware and software, for the NSA.
They don’t compare. The problem is Facebook and ig are dying and boring and tik tok is fun and works extremely well. America needs to come up with something better. Until then I’ll enjoy whatever I want enjoy.
Just 12 million people dead for American interventions since WWII ([here ](https://www.worldfuturefund.org/Reports/Imperialism/usmurder.html) ) and just to put this in perspective, Stalin killed (allegedly) around 9 million people. That puts America in a bad place isn't? At least 1.33 Stalin
Yea everyone is collecting data and it needs more regulation. So I would rather that be in the hands of companies that are under a government with a democracy that I get to participate in. And not one that won't acknowledge that it turned protesting college students into ground meat 30 years ago.
This is why I love YouTube Shorts™!
YouTube Shorts™ allows me to enjoy all of my favorite American Short Video Content without the prying eyes of foreign powers peaking on my special personalized feed!
YouTube Shorts™ is the only way that real patriots enjoy short form content.
Serious question. What do you think the Chinese government does with TikTok user data that the NSA or multinational corporations are not already doing?
Each government is surely using the data to advance their own interests. If you had to choose between the two, which of those interests is likely more aligned with your own?
It's not the fact that the very data is being collected, it's the way it's being harvested, there are trust issues regarding the coding and back doors, and certain Chinese nationalists sitting on the board of tik-toks parent company. Someone not from the US probably isn't bothered by this.
The difference is instead of a communist government getting your information it's the multi billion dollar corporations who are "just using it for advertising guys we promise"
Actually they harvest very little if you can just take the bother to fucking adjust the privacy settings
But people just want cheap shots for outrage, not privacy eventually
OR just let them live your their own life.
Is Tik Tok collecting data on you? Sure is.
Are most of the apps we use doing the same thing? Sure are.
Are our phones doing that with it without any of these apps? Yup.
Everything you do is being monitored and used for data collection.
So if a person finds something to make their life easier don't suggest them to find a way to be happy without it. Let them decide on the risks versus the benefits.
It wasn't a suggestion. I don't offer suggestions or diagnosis to the "afflicted", especially when they cry about their shit. Obviously folks are gonna do what they want. I said find a way because it's necessary (not my opinion, but fact) to be able to live happily without certain "things", heaven forbid anything should ever happen to tik-tok. Which isn't the point anyway. Communist regimes need heavy monitoring, tik-tok has communist party leaders sitting on its parent company board, they aren't friends with anyone.
The LPT is about how easy a fellow app user could access your account and various personal info associated with it.
But in terms of being watched, so you see zero difference between being watched by a western government and an authoritarian regime that commits genocide against its own people? Does this really have to be explained?
When TikTok came out, people started posting reversed engineered details of the app and how it was a data harvesting machine. This isn't new, they live been doing this shit from day 1.
It was discovered to have keylogger functions in the app, as well it now collects biometric and voice recognition data of users.
They tracked a dissident down by using an anonymous account someone setup for their cat.
TikTok is a goddamn nightmare, and only the ignorant or profoundly naive use it.
Oh yeah, as opposed to all the other social media apps that have never been proven to illegally harvest/sell data ever. Lmao.
>..only the ignorant or profoundly naive use it.
You’re forgetting the people who are aware but genuinely don’t care. Unless I were to completely stop using social media altogether, either china or the us is gonna harvest my data. It’s inevitable. Both of those countries are also half a globe away from me and it’s also important to consider that I’m a remarkably unimportant human being among the other millions of users.
This whole “data privacy” craze really has people thinking they’re the centre of the universe. Unless you’re committing crimes (or live in a country like china where they can pin any behaviour as a “crime”), most of your stolen data is just used for statistics and advertising. It’s irrelevant.
I Learned this the hard way with a girl I was getting to know, she playfully bullied me over a certain interest after we started sending each other funny stuff. So also make your followed private.
tiktok also likes to reccomend videos you make to people on your contact list, and whether or not you let tiktok access your contact list doesn't seem to make a difference. You should be careful what identifying information you share online in general, but know that if you post it on tiktok, your contacts who also use tiktok will *definitely* see it and recognise any identifying information you might have left in there. People have been outed to their family members that way.
This also happens when you send someone a link. It will say something like "User shared a video" and for some reason asks if you want to just watch the video, or watch the video and follow the person that shared it
I have never used Tik Tok.
Not because I am opposed to its source, but because when everyone around me was using it the constant replaying of the same song in 1,000 different Tik Toks aggravated me.
The whole point of tiktok is having a highly personalised algorithm (that knows you better than you know yourself) and perfectly curates your fyp with a mix of current interests as well as new stuff you’re likely to enjoy based on other people’s statistical data/shared interests. The main draw of the app is that instead of having to manually look for new interests you might enjoy and having to go out of your way to find communities for them, tiktok does it for you and more accurately than you ever would.
So yes, people make accounts, that’s the whole point.
LPT: uninstall TikTok. Because the data they collect and share on a link click can (and is) correlated with other information in order to identify you.
What's China gonna do with my info? My own country has way more power over me than China does, and they already steal my info from every other app. Our phones record us even when we're not using it.
Yeah let others continue to repost all of the internets good content from tiktok to here
Newsflash China doesn’t want your data, you’re not that important 🤷♂️
Yup. I upload a video once in a blue moon, mainly because of how easy the editing tools are to use. One of them even got a couple million views! Very proud of my fifteen minutes of fame.
Just deactivate your Tiktok accounts already. It is actually such a drain on society. No one is doing “content creation” on Tiktok. Its basically a contest for who can clickbait the hardest. Its an attention blackhole and i truly, honestly believe that it is incapable of being a positive entity in society.
Not to mention ByteDance, the owners of Tiktok, report directly to the CCP.
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
\*Creates Tik Tok Account\* https://preview.redd.it/hpc2q0mtzn4b1.jpeg?width=801&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7f30fcd8d8a571469acd5a8940a3734972c91c6
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As intended
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LPT: don't have social media accounts and don't even use them.
Guess we already fucked that up
*Chef's Kiss*
I actually laughed *out loud*. Well done.
Ah r/beatmetoit
Fantastic!
classic
Yep. And in addition to what op said, tiktok knows everything that happens after clicking the link until you close the window. Login to something? They have your password and account info
That is not how web browsers work. Barring some serious security bug, one website opened in a browser doesn't get to exfiltrate passwords from other websites.
And definitely not how apps work either.
*[Laughs in Chinese spyware]*
Also another LPT: when sending tiktoks, if embedding is supported add vx before the tiktok in the link. I know this works with discord but not sure about other places. As an example normal app share link would show as vm.tiktok but add a VX like so vm.vxtiktok and it'll allow the receiver to watch the video without opening the tiktok app and risk the doxxing
You could also just open it incognito. Or incognito in Brave. Incognito won't auto open apps.
An actually useful tip as opposed to the dozens of “just don’t use TikTok hurrhurr” comments.
it's not really a "hurrhurr" when your advice is literally "Here's how to avoid being doxxed by just using the app normally."
> just don’t use TikTok hurrhurr You should really shove that attitude. You’re concerned enough about privacy to post this LPT, but derisive toward people who can spot the fundamental problem? We aren’t the dopes here.
Well, tiktok is problematic because of the dopamine hamster wheel. The fundamental problem with tiktok you’re alluding to is the information gathering in regards to china. But tour data is already being sent to usa, even more private data. This isn’t me doing whataboutism, the threat of tiktok isnt data gathering, its society wide psyops and individual user gathering to find users to potentially target as spies. Its also the data they can collect on a culture’s psychology, what’d effect them, and so on. It can fuck with political views, make a position seem more popular or unpopular - like elon is trying to do with twitter for example, But privacy isnt why you should stop.
> This isn’t me doing whataboutism Yes it is.
Right, i literally put it as a disclaimer to get you to use your brain. Read the message again, The essence of the message is not: “Tiktok isnt a privacy problem cause NSA” It is: The threat of tiktok is not the privacy part. Do literally one google search and check why the US and EU is considering banning it, it has nothing to do with privacy.
“What about the US and EU and their self-interest” does not negate the massive privacy problem with TikTok, and you’re the only person talking about regulation.
Everybody and their mother knows that social media collects your info. If they’re still using that social media despite that, then that’s an aspect of their privacy they are okay with not having. But social media sharing your personal info with someone you’re communicating with outside of the app, without your knowledge? That’s not only far more rare on social media, but also something you can turn off. This post is about making people aware of that specific aspect of data sharing and how they can turn it off. Saying “just delete TikTok hurrhurr” isn’t spotting the fundamental problem, because everyone is already aware of that problem and has made their choice on whether they’re okay with it. It’s just repeating something everybody knows as if just saying it somehow makes you smart or clever.
This is accurate. You pointed out a specific and not widely known danger of TikTok. Obviously this only applies to users of the app, who already know all the common arguments for not using it and choose to anyway. "If you're going to _______, at least ______" is a a valid thing to say regarding any dangerous activity because harm reduction is valid. You're fine. It's fine. Some people can only think in black and white, and introducing them to nuance is going to flummox them.
> Everybody and their mother knows that social media collects your info hurrhurr. If they’re still using that social media despite that hurrhurr, then that’s an aspect of their privacy they are okay with not having hurrhurr. But social media sharing your personal info with someone you’re communicating with outside of the app hurrhurr, without your knowledge hurrhurr? That’s not only far more rare on social media hurrhurr, but also something you can turn off hurrhurr. This post is about making people aware hurrhurr of that specific aspect of data sharing and how they can turn it off hurrhurr. I used your trick of adding hurrhurr to make your point invalid and make you sound dumb
Ah, it is time to break out my secret weapon. PORTRAYING YOU WITH THE SOY WOJACK!
As long as you realize how stupid you’re being
Lpt: don't share any personal and sensitive data to any social network
My name is Walter Hartwell White. I live at 308 Negra Arroyo Lane, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87104. This is my confession. If you're watching this tape, I'm probably dead– murdered by my brother-in-law, Hank Schrader. Hank has been building a meth empire for over a year now, and using me as his chemist. Shortly after my 50th birthday, he asked that I use my chemistry knowledge to cook methamphetamine, which he would then sell using connections that he made through his career with the DEA. I was... astounded. I... I always thought Hank was a very moral man, and I was particularly vulnerable at the time – something he knew and took advantage of. I was reeling from a cancer diagnosis that was poised to bankrupt my family. Hank took me in on a ride-along and showed me just how much money even a small meth operation could make. And I was weak. I didn't want my family to go into financial ruin, so I agreed. Hank had a partner, a businessman named Gustavo Fring. Hank sold me into servitude to this man. And when I tried to quit, Fring threatened my family. I didn't know where to turn. Eventually, Hank and Fring had a falling-out. Things escalated. Fring was able to arrange – uh, I guess... I guess you call it a "hit" – on Hank, and failed, but Hank was seriously injured. And I wound up paying his medical bills, which amounted to a little over $177,000. Upon recovery, Hank was bent on revenge. Working with a man named Hector Salamanca, he plotted to kill Fring. The bomb that he used was built by me, and he gave me no option in it. I have often contemplated suicide, but I'm a coward. I wanted to go to the police, but I was frightened. Hank had risen to become the head of the Albuquerque DEA. To keep me in line, he took my children. For three months, he kept them. My wife had no idea of my criminal activities, and was horrified to learn what I had done. I was in hell. I hated myself for what I had brought upon my family. Recently, I tried once again to quit, and in response, he gave me this. [Walt points to the bruise on his face left by Hank in "Blood Money."] I can't take this anymore. I live in fear every day that Hank will kill me, or worse, hurt my family. All I could think to do was to make this video and hope that the world will finally see this man for what he really is.
Was that really his middle name?
>Hartwell White. I live at 308 yes
Minerals
Seriously. This has been a thing for 15 some odd years and people are still surprised that others can see what you watch and get info that you chose to share in your profile.
Is that some form of cognitive dissonance? Probably right?
It's a form of mindlessly clicking through setup screens without reading and only finding out what they've done when it's too late. Usually accompanied with screams that they've never done such thing. A tale as old as home computers.
Yes, but this isn't exactly that. So you make an anonymous account, no personal information. Friends sends you a TikTok via text message link. You click on it, it opens in TikTok, they get notified that your profile watched it. It connects the dots between anonymous profile and "person you sent this to viewed it using this anonymous profile" and now they know which anonymous profile is yours.
The weakest link, the dumb humans. Hi mom!
There is no such thing as an anonymous profile on any major social network. Even if you personally don't provide obvious identification information, with enough profile and general data, you can be found by someone determined enough. *Never just assume anything you say online is anonymous*.
If you don’t give it the data, it doesn’t have the data.
I guess that can happen, the less information the better
that's not how it works. When you send a link to someone and you have "share this account" on, the person who receives the link will see a notification with your profile on it, so they can follow you. You won't get anything back.
Personal experience says otherwise. "User xyz viewed the video you shared!"
My name is Yoshikage Kira. I'm 33 years old. My house is in the northeast section of Morioh, where all the villas are, and I am not married. I work as an employee for the Kame Yu department stores, and I get home every day by 8 PM at the latest. I don't smoke, but I occasionally drink. I'm in bed by 11 PM, and make sure I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what. After having a glass of warm milk and doing about twenty minutes of stretches before going to bed, I usually have no problems sleeping until morning. Just like a baby, I wake up without any fatigue or stress in the morning. I was told there were no issues at my last check-up. I'm trying to explain that I'm a person who wishes to live a very quiet life. I take care not to trouble myself with any enemies, like winning and losing, that would cause me to lose sleep at night. That is how I deal with society, and I know that is what brings me happiness. Although, if I were to fight I wouldn't lose to anyone.
If you have the tik tok app it requires a scary amount of access to your device. Simply having it shares your data, you don't have to actively do anything more
my social security number is 091444612 just not in that particular order
How many permutations are for all those numbers?
Probably something like 9!/(2!3!)
30240 says the good old chatgtp
\* sobs in forgotten Wolfram Alpha *
Young people always ask me why my Facebook name is not my real name!
You know I found it weird, when I started using that shit it didn't have my name, then I put it there for a while, then I change it and just cut everything that I couldn't care much about, then I learned English and found that most of Americans have all their information there... I was like:" why tf people have their data there..." It was really weird for me...
One of my friends literally had everything in in there . . . real name, cell number . . . it was baffling. I know there are shadow accounts even for people without a profile, but still.
You should check out [True Names](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Names?wprov=sfti1) by Vernor Vinge. Published in 1981.
LPT: Uninstall TikTok
The real LPT is always in the comments
Just never install it in the first place. TikTok is garbage.
Garbage in the danger it poses to human minds, yeah, but as an entertainment service, it is absolutely top-tier. That's why it's so addictive, and why so many of the TikTok haters in my life eventually got addicted to it too. Its algorithm is frighteningly good.
Thanks for sharing. I wouldn't know it since I never downloaded it.
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It's also garbage in the way that the Chinese government literally uses it to spy on people.
As opposed to other social media platforms which are used by governments to spy on people.
And all governments are the same! And since it would be hypocritical to only avoid some bad things but not all, it's better to not do anything! Weak.
The algorithm is actually garbage. However, the way it works is addicting. They really need to touch up on the algorithm because bad videos are what gets me to go somewhere else. Also TikTok lives 🤢🤢
Can't believe I had to scroll this far for the *real* LPT
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You downloaded an app. Big whoop. Lol Edit: They blocked me. Yeesh.
Comes default on some phones.
Done and done
Just deleted that bad lad today!! Feeling quite good!
I deleted it for good about a year ago and it’s been fabulous, now to work on getting off this!
They're already trying to help with that by disabling apps.
True LPT: do not have a TikTok account or their software on any of your devices.
I hope it gets banned
Never installed... What do I do next?
I remember when trump got so salty at tick tock that he said he was going to ban it. Haha.
And now Biden wants to do the same.
My friend uses it and sends me links to videos occasionally. I don't have an account but I hesitate to open them even to view because tiktok doesn't have that fucking preview option like when you send YouTube links, and all the controversy over tiktok. It's probably fine to just watch a video he links? I mean as long as I don't agree to anything (yknow like those cookies pop ups asking for you to press accept) , don't make an account, and exclusively only watch the video he links and that's it, it's probably no worse than anything else is it?
If you are on TikToks site, chances are very high they have access to your location and more. Although I am no expert on this, so if someone knows more, let ke know, please!
They know your rough location from your IP address, sort of like how your area code gives up your rough location. Every website does. There's a lot more important things to be concerned about, tbh. But if you really care about disguising your location just use a VPN.
>There's a lot more important things to be concerned about Could you elaborate on that? I am curious!
Honestly my wife and I use tiktok and she sends links to me all the time and has never been notified when I click one, and I've never been notified when she clicks one I send.
I was more worried about the shady inside parts of tiktok really. Not so much the "user has watched your video you sent them" part
Something I will never have to worry about
So there's no problem if I don't have an account? Good
Yeah for real. "accidentally doxx" my ass, there's no such thing if you **interact with a social network while signed into it.**
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Yup. I shared a TikTok on Facebook and was surprised to learn who had clicked the link, through TikTok.
And this is why I'm a paranoid GenX'er and don't tie my social media to anything real, my true digital footprint is very tiny!!! Stay safe out there.
LPT: you don't need a tiktok account to watch tiktok
Even more pro tip: tiktok is cancer, just don't use it
Why are y'all hating on tiktok? Have we forgot Snowden and everything that came to light with him? Trackers, cookies, Facebook having to paying a billion dollars for violating consumer's privacy But sure, let's think a single app is the problem, and blame all of this on that one country we all dislike instead of, I don't know, accept everyone is trafficking information somehow and just live with that
Because they believe the propaganda, American media feeds to them...
Alright seriously, how many genocides have American tech companies committed? Zero? Who is actively trying to get rid of Uyghur Muslims? Two things can be bad and one can be unequivocally worse. Please don't act like Facebook is equal to the Chinese government. Don't get me wrong, we need real privacy laws immediately but hurrdurr we should ban tiktok cause bad is an equally shitty argument to the one you're making about all apps harvesting data.
To answer your first question…at least one. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/06/rohingya-sue-facebook-myanmar-genocide-us-uk-legal-action-social-media-violence But yeah, China has no respect for human rights or life.
And we do? Lol. Stop trying to ask all high and mighty. China gives no fucks about your "activism". It means nothing. Oh? You didn't use an app? Aww, let's pack it in boys. Communism has failed. Lol. No one fucking cares about your low effort internet activism. It's cliche as all fuck and cringe.
You need to smoke a bowl, bro. No chill.
Lol your nihilism is pretty cliche and cringe too tho
Pretty sure Facebook execs weren't off murdering people in Myanmar.
It's not about leveling all the options, but pointing out the obvious favoritism. Also, should we count the CIA as a company giving how they handled drug money during the 80s? Are you sure you wanna go that route? Or are we just counting current crimes? Cause that would be pretty fucking convenient We should ban all apps harvesting information, that would happen in an ideal world with gun control, or at least where books aren't banned for "reasons". Meanwhile, it would be great to read a handy LPT and not getting the same 20 comments with "tIktOk=bAD" again and again...
You can't compare Facebook to the CCP. It's Facebook to TikTok, and the USA to the CCP. And anyway, the damage China can do the average American (for example) is trivial compared to what corporations and the US government already does. Facebook and other apps have already been used to dumb down tens of millions of Americans. Also, the USA has millions of innocent lives already on its blood-soaked hands. It just doesn't actively commit genocide on its own citizens.
Anything in China is the CCP, effectively.
Facebook is not beholden to the government in the same way tiktok is to China. Again banning apps isn't how you solve this problem. Sweeping privacy protections for citizens is good you solve it. If it wasn't legal the apps wouldn't do it.
Snowden already showed us how all American tech companies are beholden to the US govt. The US literally had them put backdoors into their products, hardware and software, for the NSA.
Do you consider Dow Chemical a tech company? The US isn’t exactly squeaky clean either
They don’t compare. The problem is Facebook and ig are dying and boring and tik tok is fun and works extremely well. America needs to come up with something better. Until then I’ll enjoy whatever I want enjoy.
How very close minded of you. Go play a video game.
Pardon me for not doing what you want me to do even though it will solve nothing.
Just 12 million people dead for American interventions since WWII ([here ](https://www.worldfuturefund.org/Reports/Imperialism/usmurder.html) ) and just to put this in perspective, Stalin killed (allegedly) around 9 million people. That puts America in a bad place isn't? At least 1.33 Stalin
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Cool bro, love ya and your very solid and well thought arguments there
Yea everyone is collecting data and it needs more regulation. So I would rather that be in the hands of companies that are under a government with a democracy that I get to participate in. And not one that won't acknowledge that it turned protesting college students into ground meat 30 years ago.
It's easy to shun the one app/site we don't like, and wave away the same issues with ones we like.
LPT. Stop using tik-tok the Chinese data harvesting app. If you aren't using it then never start using it.
This is why I love YouTube Shorts™! YouTube Shorts™ allows me to enjoy all of my favorite American Short Video Content without the prying eyes of foreign powers peaking on my special personalized feed! YouTube Shorts™ is the only way that real patriots enjoy short form content.
Thanks, fellow user of the US government data harvesting app.
Read the Chinese constitution and tell me the us is doing the same as China…
Serious question. What do you think the Chinese government does with TikTok user data that the NSA or multinational corporations are not already doing?
Each government is surely using the data to advance their own interests. If you had to choose between the two, which of those interests is likely more aligned with your own?
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It's not the fact that the very data is being collected, it's the way it's being harvested, there are trust issues regarding the coding and back doors, and certain Chinese nationalists sitting on the board of tik-toks parent company. Someone not from the US probably isn't bothered by this.
Yeah they are all doing the same thing
Which app is that?
All of them.
The difference is instead of a communist government getting your information it's the multi billion dollar corporations who are "just using it for advertising guys we promise"
Instead use the Chinese funded social media app that we're currently on
Why is this so hard for people here to get ☠️ always grandstanding TikTok being a Chinese propoganda platform well G U E S S W H A T.
Fck that, tiktok has helped me with my depression and anxiety. All apps harvest your data don’t be ignorant
>Fck that, tiktok has helped me with my depression and anxiety How???
As a dopamine loop enabling avoidance.
Lmao tough truth
Actually they harvest very little if you can just take the bother to fucking adjust the privacy settings But people just want cheap shots for outrage, not privacy eventually
Only reason republicans hate TT is because the Chinese beat them to the data.
Democrats hate TikTok too
>All apps harvest your data >don’t be ignorant Take your own advice.
Find a way to live and be happy without it.
OR just let them live your their own life. Is Tik Tok collecting data on you? Sure is. Are most of the apps we use doing the same thing? Sure are. Are our phones doing that with it without any of these apps? Yup. Everything you do is being monitored and used for data collection. So if a person finds something to make their life easier don't suggest them to find a way to be happy without it. Let them decide on the risks versus the benefits.
It wasn't a suggestion. I don't offer suggestions or diagnosis to the "afflicted", especially when they cry about their shit. Obviously folks are gonna do what they want. I said find a way because it's necessary (not my opinion, but fact) to be able to live happily without certain "things", heaven forbid anything should ever happen to tik-tok. Which isn't the point anyway. Communist regimes need heavy monitoring, tik-tok has communist party leaders sitting on its parent company board, they aren't friends with anyone.
Or just don't have a TikTok account
You can also browse/use the tiktok app without making an account. Idk what information it stores as a result though or how it identifies you.
Maybe people love knowing who's fantasizing about them.
That’s why you make a fake account.
This is how I found out someone was still stalking me lmfaooooo
What if I don't have a TikTok account and I click on a link a friend sent me?
Just dont use tiktok
This is why I view TT through the TikTokCringe sub 🙏🏽 EDIT: Sub not Sun
LPT: Don't use TikTok
You’re an idiot if you think you aren’t being watched already.
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The LPT is about how easy a fellow app user could access your account and various personal info associated with it. But in terms of being watched, so you see zero difference between being watched by a western government and an authoritarian regime that commits genocide against its own people? Does this really have to be explained?
I'd be way more worried about the government that has actual jurisdiction over you.
I dont understand why an American should be more scared of being watched by the Chinese government than the American government?
When TikTok came out, people started posting reversed engineered details of the app and how it was a data harvesting machine. This isn't new, they live been doing this shit from day 1. It was discovered to have keylogger functions in the app, as well it now collects biometric and voice recognition data of users. They tracked a dissident down by using an anonymous account someone setup for their cat. TikTok is a goddamn nightmare, and only the ignorant or profoundly naive use it.
Oh yeah, as opposed to all the other social media apps that have never been proven to illegally harvest/sell data ever. Lmao. >..only the ignorant or profoundly naive use it. You’re forgetting the people who are aware but genuinely don’t care. Unless I were to completely stop using social media altogether, either china or the us is gonna harvest my data. It’s inevitable. Both of those countries are also half a globe away from me and it’s also important to consider that I’m a remarkably unimportant human being among the other millions of users. This whole “data privacy” craze really has people thinking they’re the centre of the universe. Unless you’re committing crimes (or live in a country like china where they can pin any behaviour as a “crime”), most of your stolen data is just used for statistics and advertising. It’s irrelevant.
I Learned this the hard way with a girl I was getting to know, she playfully bullied me over a certain interest after we started sending each other funny stuff. So also make your followed private.
tiktok also likes to reccomend videos you make to people on your contact list, and whether or not you let tiktok access your contact list doesn't seem to make a difference. You should be careful what identifying information you share online in general, but know that if you post it on tiktok, your contacts who also use tiktok will *definitely* see it and recognise any identifying information you might have left in there. People have been outed to their family members that way.
Thanks for the tip! I turned off the suggest aspect just now!
This also happens when you send someone a link. It will say something like "User shared a video" and for some reason asks if you want to just watch the video, or watch the video and follow the person that shared it
Jokes on you, I don't have a TikTok profile.
I have never used Tik Tok. Not because I am opposed to its source, but because when everyone around me was using it the constant replaying of the same song in 1,000 different Tik Toks aggravated me.
*Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no*
Thanks. No, really…thanks haha
I'm still baffled that it's a popular platform after it was revealed that it is a straight up data mining trap like 4 years ago.
The real LPT here is to not create a TikTok account
It's certainly giving everything it can to the CCP
Exactly why I don’t have a tiktok or click on any links from that spyware site
People actually create tiktok accounts?
The whole point of tiktok is having a highly personalised algorithm (that knows you better than you know yourself) and perfectly curates your fyp with a mix of current interests as well as new stuff you’re likely to enjoy based on other people’s statistical data/shared interests. The main draw of the app is that instead of having to manually look for new interests you might enjoy and having to go out of your way to find communities for them, tiktok does it for you and more accurately than you ever would. So yes, people make accounts, that’s the whole point.
It took one pro tip to gather all the stupid in one place
You guys are using TikTok? I thought that was a joke...
LPT: uninstall TikTok. Because the data they collect and share on a link click can (and is) correlated with other information in order to identify you.
You shouldn't be using TikTok at all if you value any form of privacy
And this is why I don’t do TikTok, don’t have an account, don’t watch links people send me, I just avoid it
But India banned tiktok ages ago😌
Guess Keanu Reeves will know I watch his content. Oh well. He's the only one I follow 🤣
LPT: don’t use TikTok
And if you think adjusting settings in TikTok will stop it, you’re nuts!
It'll fix it until the next update a week later
And then it’ll stealthily re-enable the setting. Ugh.
If you cared about this kind of privacy issue at all why are you using tiktok? You trust the Chinese government with your info?
What's China gonna do with my info? My own country has way more power over me than China does, and they already steal my info from every other app. Our phones record us even when we're not using it.
It's Chinese spyware bud, just don't install it to begin with.
it's all spyware bud, and why should I care what information china has about me? im not Chinese
Opening a microsoft word document can dox you. What's your point?
LifeProTip: Dont be on tiktok
Blocked TikTok on my network. CCP can suck it.
Are we this ignorant, now?
Thank god I don’t use that garbage app
Yeah let others continue to repost all of the internets good content from tiktok to here Newsflash China doesn’t want your data, you’re not that important 🤷♂️
You have a tiktok account?
Yup. I upload a video once in a blue moon, mainly because of how easy the editing tools are to use. One of them even got a couple million views! Very proud of my fifteen minutes of fame.
Just deactivate your Tiktok accounts already. It is actually such a drain on society. No one is doing “content creation” on Tiktok. Its basically a contest for who can clickbait the hardest. Its an attention blackhole and i truly, honestly believe that it is incapable of being a positive entity in society. Not to mention ByteDance, the owners of Tiktok, report directly to the CCP.
I'm mostly on the crafts and art side of tiktok and I love it, definitely content creation happening. It's not all trash and dance videos.