Does TikTok pose a security threat to Canadians?

By Robert Diab, Thompson Rivers University

Concerns about the threats TikTok poses to privacy and liberty were raised again, as a bill to divest TikTok of its Chinese ownership or ban it gathered steam in the United States Congress. And Canada’s federal government revealed that it began investigating months ago whether foreign control of the app poses a threat to national security.

Government officials see TikTok posing a threat to Canadians in two ways: violating our personal privacy by collecting too much data, and sabotaging our democracy through misinformation and manipulation.

Are these threats theoretical or real? And is there any proof supporting the concerns that the Chinese government exerts control over ByteDance Ltd., the Beijing-based company that owns TikTok?

There is good reason to believe TikTok may pose a threat to our privacy, but not to our democracy. The platform may collect too much data, but fears that China will use TikTok to misinform or manipulate us for political purposes are misplaced.

China doesn’t need to control TikTok to influence our elections. It can do that quite easily without this. Canada’s ongoing efforts to minimize the national security threat TikTok poses won’t neutralize the threat social media poses to democracy.

https://youtu.be/CETjQv8aqw0?si=GBNSzcs0aTJ3xNL0

Privacy concerns are real

But TikTok does pose a threat to our privacy. European regulators have fined TikTok for collecting data from users too young to provide valid consent, for misusing data and for “nudging” users toward privacy-invading conduct through default settings.

Class actions in Canada and the U.S. have made a similar case.

Cybersecurity experts have warned of how invasive the app can be, as it tracks user location, incoming messages and which networks a user accessed. Permissions for this are buried deep in the app’s settings, but most users are unaware or don’t bother to check.

In late March, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner and three provincial counterparts are set to table a report on an investigation into how TikTok gathers and uses our data.

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