TikTok, Zoom, House Party: Why are people getting With everyone home, a handful of apps have risen in prominence like few have seen. Connecting friends and workplaces is the very essential Zoom, the immensely popular video conferencing app that is helping millions of workplaces to function smoothly while at home. And providing hours of entertainment for kids and adults alike are Tik Tok and Houseparty, with hours of content and games to be played and shared.
But experts are raising concerns about the rapid rise of these applications, citing blatant security flaws and privacy concerns. Some are even dissuading users from having these apps on their devices. Here is what you need to know.
Tik Tok
The Chinese-owned social media giant rose to 800 million users this year. That number took Instagram over six years to reach, compared to the three years since Tiktok’s launch.
Experts have noticed and have expressed privacy and security concerns in the same vein the US-Huawei debacle. The Tik Tok app began as Musical.ly, a popular app let users make homemade karaoke videos with 60 million users. It was acquired by Chinese company ByteDance in 2017 for around $1 billion, who merged it with its similar service, Tiktok. The rest is history.
US lawmakers are concerned TikTok poses a national security. Cybersecurity researchers Check Point found alarming weaknesses in the TikTok system that allowed them to take control of accounts, deleting videos and making private content public. They were also able to retrieve users’ personal information, like names and birth dates. A summary was sent to the US Department of Homeland Security.
It extends to threatening the freedom of speech, should content be covertly moderated. If freedom of expression is compromised, it could pose a threat to the elections and the increasing stream of political messages that utilize the platform.
The elephant in the room remains China’s national intelligence laws that can require companies to comply with data collection for the authorities, compromising the privacy of its users.
Owners ByteDance have maintained the Chinese government does not meddle with TikTok’s content, with videos of the Hong Kong protest kept online. They responded with a slew of transparency measures in the US, including insights into the app’s source code and details on security.TikTok, Zoom, House Party: Why are people getting
