Probably the issue then is that the US government trusts US companies more than Chinese companies, when they shouldn't. I agree with the parent company that if China wanted this data they could probably get it very easily and they most likely probably have it.

The frustration is that for years, privacy advocates have been trying to find the right set of words to make people understand that it is bad for US companies have so much data on so many Americans. The argument is always dismissed as not being an important issue, or that it's good for rooting out terrorists or pedophiles. But privacy advocates have also been saying this whole time, "what if this data falls into the wrong hands" on deaf ears.

In an ideal world we would ban TikTok but also regulate how user data is obtained, stored, and used by US companies.

My problem with this is now it shifts the goal post on what's considered bad. Chinese companies collecting data is bad, US companies collecting data is better so we don't focus on it as much. When in fact in general massive data collection is a problem and should be dealt with. This is providing a smoke screen.

The US has much stronger legal barriers and recourse for abuse of data as well as strong separation between state and industry. It's not hard to think of why corporate data collection should be treated very differently in the two countries.

Unfortunately, only "top tier" companies really care about your data. I get where you are coming from, I just wish we'd also pass legislation that did something about negligent custodians of data.

It's not just about whether the US government trusts US companies more than Chinese companies; it's about gaining access to that data.

You can issue warrants warrants for your own jurisdiction, within your own country. Once data crosses country borders, it's much harder to get access to. The US (understandably) wants this data within their own country. Similarly, China also wants this data within their own country.

Trust is based on shared information, therefore access to backdoors is reality of what’s at stake. This spectacle to inform the targeted populace on this one is just modern rallying around the flag. If there were a higher motive than the current fight for most-privileged relationship status between govs and corps this news could be more interesting.