Tik Tok has 150 million American users. There are millions of Americans who have turned over their Social Security numbers to Tik Tok just to get a link on their profiles for their small hopeful business scheme.
As China descends every con in the world coming out of China will be aimed at those Americans who voluntarily gave up this SS numbers. Think of it as Russia two. While China would like to believe they will dominate through datamining the American public as a whole all of this will fall back on scamming already gullible American citizens. This is a nightmare for American families and the US government.
It would be helpful to have a link to this statement. I donât know of anyone who has given out their SSNs on TikTok, but I know I live a very isolated existence sometimes. Still, would be good to know what the basis of this remark isâŚ
Quora subject:
Can I trust TikTok with my social security number for their monetization program?
My comment this extends down to just getting a link on your bio.
You can link your Instagram or YouTube without joining the monetization program. But for a link to your website you need to join the monetization program. The program needs your SS like any employer or bank would for tax purposes. The link by itself normally does not create taxable events for TikTok.
You can find other info by searching. It is pretty straight forward though. I no longer have an account on TikTok.
adding for small businesspeople this is a headache because you need SM to sell your wares. FB and the rest do not ask for a SSN just for a link on your profile or in your comments and posts. Small businesspeople, especially when young, feel very compelled to give over their SSN. You can not give over a fake number. TikTok was proof beyond that you are who you say you are.
I didnât read the column, but somewhere today there is an op ed piece which says something to the effect of:
I DO NOT want Tik Tok to have my data. I only want it to be used by Facebook and Google. And Microsoft and Instagram. And Quora and Amazon and Etsy and WalMart and QVC and WhatsApp and SnapChat, and a few others that I have probably given permissions to but forgotten about.,
Thatâs not exactly what they are saying. What they are saying is that use of data for commerce (even if sometimes nefarious use) and use of data by the Chinese government (almost always nefarious use) are two different things.
I donât know, but I doubt if the Chinese government is really interested in my data.
The US government on the other hand, might be.
Which is what happens with all the Facebook, Google etc. apps.
Of course, the US govât isnât nefarious⌠maybe
What cracked me up about the hearings is the Tik Tok honcho saying data mining the customer accounts, by the Chinese government, is illegal. China is a police state. Xi doesnât care what the âlawâ says.
Yes, it was a joke. Although Iâd dispute that itâs âalmost always nefariousâ. Sometimes, sure.
I do wonder, however, under what section of the Constitution does Congress say it can force a sale of a sale of a company like Tik Tok to American ownership, or stop people from using it if they want to.
It isnât âfreedom of speechâ, certainly. And can it really be called a threat to national security?
I think that is exactly the argument that is, and will be, made against TT. Whether that is valid or not, who knows for sure? Certainly, obtaining personal information from millions of USA subscribers and potentially being able to user it against them in some way argues for national security. Isnât that basically the arguments states have been using in their bans?
China is trying to gather massive data on US consumption habits among other things. Then market into those habits.
We can either retool and manufacture for the world or let China market to us with our own data. The reality is China is arming fast. We are retooling. We do not need China continuing to flood our markets with still more product. The economic strategic look is $32 tr in national debt because we were outsourcing. Lets get off this ride.
Yes, about half the states have âbannedâ it from government devices. Perhaps the governorsâ aides with time to play with Tik Tok on their cell phones could find something better to do?
But if weâre going to say that Tik Tok poses a threat to national security because of people watching funny or weird videos, then we better say the same about all the other social media. And China âhaving access to our consumption habits?â Donât they already? They produce 90% of the crap on Amazon; they know whatâs selling.
All of this smacks of the 1950âs âRed Scareâ to me. âOh, no, the commies under the bed!â The states which have banned it are largely, but not exclusively, Red or bright Red:
Florida, Utah, Nebraska, South Dakota, South Carolina, Indiana, Maryland, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, Iowa, North Dakota, Idaho, New Hampshire, Georgia, Virginia, Montana, West Virginia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Ohio, New Jersey, Arkansas, Wisconsin, New Jersey, North Carolina.
Either Iâm missing something blindingly obvious, or this is simple hysteria.
[edited to include this link I just stumbled on]
But U.S. officials have been warning about TikTok for four years without providing specific evidence of harm. If â as it appeared in Thursdayâs congressional thrashing of TikTokâs chief executive â Congress is likely to try to ban TikTok or give the White House the authority to do so, then the U.S. government needs to be real with the public. If thereâs a smoking gun that Chinaâs government has used TikTok to harvest Americansâ data or warp our beliefs, U.S. officials need to make that evidence public.
The issue is small businesspeople wanting a link in their bio. Unsaid that is the main thing. You have to fork over your SSN to get that link.
The other issue which is economic is data on buying habits. We do not need to give Chinaâs manufacturers that data. It would be a strategic blunder to do so beyond this point.
No, seriously. They already have that data. The know how much stuff we buy, all they have to do is inventory the shipping containers going to the US. Sheesh.
And you do not have to give your SSN if you donât want to. There is nothing that obligates you to do that, unless you want to access features which, for most people, are irrelevant.
Maybe not. Thatâs the very definition of âhysteriaâ. Hereâs a real world example:
Nearly all smartphones owned by Americans are made in Chinese factories. Does the government believe theyâre risky? Lenovo, a Chinese company, is a top seller of personal computers. American corporations buy powerful back-office computers made by Chinese companies. The widely played video game League of Legends is owned by Chinese internet giant Tencent. Is all that still okay? Two of the most widely downloaded apps in America are shopping apps from China, Shein and Temu. Might the United States try to ban them? What about backyard drones made by Chinaâs DJI? Solar panels on Americansâ homes from Chinese companies? Would the U.S. keep out electric vehicles made by Chinese brands or by Volvo, owned by a Chinese company?
But somehow an app that shows funny videos is an existential threat? Show me how - with specifics - rather than just a lot of arm waving and shouting âCHINESEâ.
You want to talk past people here rather than read just one thing I have posted in particular. The app is collecting SSN from millions of people. Those people voluntarily hand it over to TikTok. That is a major problem.
We are in a trade war with China that we have to win. You can obfuscate all you need to do. Most of us get it.
I generally disagree with American citizens who think this means taking a bigoted swipe at the Chinese. You need to differentiate China the military power from Americans who are not bigots.
Only if they wish to monetize on the platform, the vast majority are just there to watch funny videos. If you want to monetize on YouTube, you have to sign up and yes, give them your SSN. Itâs a legal requirement so they can report earnings to the government.
I missed the part of the Constitution that says that. I have seen no formal declaration of war by Congress, have you?
The running around shouting to ban something without legal cause is the very definition of hysteria. See: Red Scare.
Actually I would bet âHysteriaâ is not in the DSM 5. Meaning you are using outdated terms to suit ridiculous ideas you have. Hysteria was made up by Freud to study women for problems. It was nonsense. It was never a major illness other than Freudâs mother complex or whatever he wanted to call that. He studied himself more those women to discover projection.
That is not true. You are not reading anyone elseâs posts. I have said and it is a fact, if you want a link to your website in your bio on TikTok you need to give them your SSN and prove who you are. They wont take a fake SSN. That is not monetizing with TikTok. Many small startups feel they have to fork over this SSN just for a link in the bio.
Last I knew YouTube was an American company. While some computer guy at YouTube might sell your data it is not a given.
It is purely an assumption of mine that China will go the way of Russia in creating commercial havoc with identity theftâŚetcâŚetcâŚForking over millions of SSN and proving who you are wont help matters. Now will it?
If you have never tried to put a link other than IG or YT on a TT profile then you do not know. I can safely say you did not know. Maybe you will finally know.
