Superuser surveillance… A former exec at TikTok’s parent company raised (more) alarm bells this week: Yintao “Roger” Yu, who was ByteDance's US head of engineering, said that Chinese Communist Party members were able to use a “superuser credential” (aka a “god credential”) to monitor users’ personal data — including that of US users — through a special Chinese gov’t committee installed at ByteDance’s Beijing office.
Stalker mode: In a court filing Yu said that CCP officials used the superuser power to identify and track civil-rights activists and protesters in Hong Kong.
Superuser access was “commonly discussed” among employees, Yu said. He also accused TikTok of storing users’ DMs, search histories, and viewing habits.
The Tok chopping block… gets another strike. Last week, Forbes reported that TikTok creators’ personal info (like: SSNs) was being stored in China, where employees could access it. TikTok denied that, but these reports could give US lawmakers more fuel for a ban. Though Congress was recently preoccupied with the debt ceiling, Tik-ban momentum has accelerated this year:
Last month: Montana became the first US state to completely ban TikTok with legislation that’ll make it illegal for app stores to offer it in the state.
In March: Congress proposed legislation that would allow for a Tik ban, and President Biden encouraged lawmakers to pass it.
The Tok lobby is powerful… The US gov’t has been talking about a nationwide ban for years, and Americans favor a ban 2-to-1, a recent Pew survey found. But TikTok’s still going strong with 150M+ US users. ByteDance has spent millions lobbying Congress and recruited armies of influencers to promote TikTok. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said, “I don’t think there is a lobbyist that I know that is not on TikTok’s payroll at this point.”