After Congress voted in favor of banning the app TikTok on government devices, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) took the opportunity to warn the American people of just how dangerous the app actually is.
“Here’s what most Americans don’t know, because TikTok doesn’t want them to know.”
In short, TikTok is owned by a company out of Beijing and is legally required to hand over any and all data it collects to the Chinese Communist Party at the request of the CCP.
The app is always running in the background of whatever device it is on and is able to access a user’s emails, browser history, contacts, and keystrokes.
Out of all of those mentioned, keystrokes is the most terrifying on that list. What that means is that the app is recording the buttons the user is pressing and the order in which they are being pressed.
Let’s say, for example, you were to log into your bank or retirement account, and you type in the address of that service. You then type in your username and password.
A keystroke tracker has the ability to track and record all of that information.
The question is, how likely is it that the Chinese Communist Party is going to be using the TikTok app for nefarious purposes?
When it comes to the United States government, the CCP has already demonstrated that it has no problem spying on congressional leaders.
Democrat Congresswoman Dianne Feinstein had a Chinese spy working for her as her driver and personal assistant for decades before the infiltration was stopped and Democrat Congressman Eric Swalwell had a relationship with a Chinese spy before the Intelligence Community found out and warned him.
It was believed that Swalwell was targeted years prior as someone who the CCP saw as having a potential future in American politics and the spy was instructed to get close to him.
The point is, if the CCP was willing to go to that much effort to learn State secrets by sending its people out into the world for years to earn the trust of foreign politicians, how much more likely is it that the CPP would hesitate to contact the minds behind TikTok and demand they hand over information that is gained on any given American politician or citizen who has installed the app’s devices?
Most Americans are fully aware that their social media apps are collecting personal data as a trade-off for the services, but how many are actually aware that the Chinese Communist Party may be one of those entities that could be harvesting their data?
Do you use TikTok?