‘Real changes’: why you should care about data collection
TikTok is making headlines for its data collection policies, this is why you should care.
TikTok has come under fire this week after the company’s chief executive confirmed China-based employees had access to US users’ information.
While chief executive Shou Zi Chew assured the US that the data accessed by the company engineers was not shared with Chinese government officials, Liberal senator James Paterson was quick to seek clarification from TikTok Australia executives Lee Hunter and Brent Thomas.
The senator shared TikTok’s response, Tweeting: “TikTok Australia has replied to my letter and admitted that Australian user data is also accessible in mainland China, putting it within reach of the Chinese government, despite their previous assurances it was safe because it was stored in the US and Singapore.”
So what does this mean for individual users, and why is everyone freaking out?
TikTok Australia has replied to my letter and admitted that Australian user data is also accessible in mainland China, putting it within reach of the Chinese government, despite their previous assurances it was safe because it was stored in the US and Singapore pic.twitter.com/ITY1HNEo6v
— James Paterson (@SenPaterson) July 12, 2022
It can reach data beyond your latest video upload
When you sign up to social media platforms, they give very vague statement asking for your permission to share data.
What some people might not realise is that these permissions go further than just sharing that data with other companies — they can also access data that you never shared on their app.
“The deal with TikTok is that by using the service — which is controlled in China — whether you realise it or not, whether you agree to it or now, you’re disclosing a whole range of information about yourself,” Associate Professor in the School of Law at the University of Canberra, Dr Bruce Baer Arnold, told news.com.au.
“Things like location, sign on data, your calendar — basically you’re giving access to what’s on your device.”
TikTok is Chinese owned
There’s no tiptoeing around the fact that while the data access of TikTok is the same as any other social media app or website, TikTok is a Chinses company, whereas most of the other most popular social media is owned by the USA.
“Yes, people are more concerned about TikTok because it’s owned by China, and that’s a legitimate response,” says Dr Arnold.
“The rules of business and online in China are different to the rules in the US. I think there are legitimate concerns about the privacy laws in the US, but the concerns about what might happen in China are far more fundamental.”
Why does it matter?
Many younger people who grew up in a digital age and have always known what we share online is not private. So we’ve always conducted our online life as if many people are watching.
The problem, however, besides the fact not everyone is internet-savvy, comes when individual data is grouped collectively to potentially make decisions about that group.
“The real value in the world of big data is population scale data collection,” explained Dr Arnold. “When you put it altogether you start to get commercially very, very valuable sets of data.”
“That may well lead to people or algorithm making decisions, not transparently, about people’s lives. About insurance, for example. About jobs, about health, in ways that aren’t fair, but you could do nothing about.”
What can you do?
As an expert on privacy and the law, Dr Arnold says that there’s not much to be done on an individual level, besides being very conscious of what you share online, and what websites, apps and cookies you sign up to.
However, he believes individuals have a responsibility to start lobbying the Government to make real changes to privacy laws that would protect us.
“An individual consumer going up against a multi-billion dollar corporation is generally not going to work,” he said. “Which is one reason why we need smart, savvy, well-resourced regulators to take action on behalf of individuals.”
“If the ACCC faces up to, say, Facebook and says ‘you’re breaching Australian consumer protections laws, we’re going to hit you with a penalty for millions of dollars’ — that starts to be more effective.”
“If you’re a citizen, this is your responsibility. Don’t wait for someone else to make the decisions, tell the government we want them to do something.”
The national government actually has considerable power when it comes to telecommunications. It’s time for them to become a lot more activist in the online space.”
