> Who's doing the collecting often matters much more than what is actually collected

Correct, therefore far more attention ought be put to domestic corporate and government spying on the public because they have got a far stronger leverage over the public's mind than foreign companies whom do not

Also, wouldn't it just be funny if Meta had some internal deals to acquire Tiktoks data? Lastly, if memory serves Tiktok makes use of Oracle (approved US gov contractor) to handle US data, so this is already under scrutiny [1]

[1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-tiktok-nears-de...

So it might seem that the powers that be, wants us to be attentive regarding this deal

>> Who's doing the collecting often matters much more than what is actually collected

>> The important context here is we seem to be transitioning away from the era of kumbaya free market globalism into an era of tenser geopolitical rivalries and more conflict.

> Correct, therefore far more attention ought be put to domestic corporate and government spying on the public because they have got a far stronger leverage over the public's mind than foreign companies whom do not

You're missing the point, so I quoted the context again for emphasis.

To make it more explicit: the fact that US has leverage over Facebook means it's far less likely that Facebook's data collection will be used to attack US interests. That's why TikTok's collection is different, from the perspective of the US and allied countries.

You can make a pretty close personal analogy: I don't care as much if a close family member collects real time location data of my movements, because I trust they don't have incentives to use it in particular ways that are very harmful to me. I care a lot more if a personal or business rival collects the same data, because their incentive is to use it in the context of their rivalry to harm me or prevent me from achieving some of my goals.

And to make myself even more explicit, I am saying that desires of the US Public are indeed different from "US (Gov) Interests" as noted from the Snowden leaks, the Pentagon Papers, the Church Committee, Afghanistan Papers, Manning Leaks et al we can see that there's a (rather) serious divergence between the desires of both and should not be conflated

> And to make myself even more explicit, I am saying that desires of the US Public are indeed different from "US (Gov) Interests"

Sure, but it's also worth noting the interests of the "US Public" are more in alignment with "US (Gov) Interests" than they are "Chinese (Gov) Interests," at least when it comes to geopolitics and stuff like this. That's far more relevant to a discussion of TikTok, which this is.

> worth noting the interests of the "US Public"

And I am sure that you have got a citation for that, right, other than you know, your own personal assumptions

You ought read some of Xi Jinpings own writing, he alongside his aides published a small article last year

> Who's doing the collecting often matters much more than what is actually collected.

Unless something is actually done - then the actor and its properties are of utmost priority in discussion.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31852384

Why didn't the Italian government just ban data collection in this form? They want to promote EU / local companies to collect this data rather than international companies.