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Re:TikTok Parent ByteDance Sees Losses Swell in Push for Growth by rvz on Thursday October 06, 2022 @03:08PM (#33112610)
Yes. It is exactly that. [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

I thought Facebook was worse, but looking at TikTok, it takes the most invasive spyware crown.

At this point if the solution is to outlaw all invasive tracking for all companies, the first thing to do is like how Facebook got a multi-billion dollar fine by the FTC, TikTok (and repeat offenders) must be fined in the tens of billions, if they want to continue operating in the US and to stop them from violating user privacy by their invasive data collection.

[0] https://www.nrk.no/osloogviken/xl/tiktok-doesn_t-show-the-wa...

[1] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-...

[2] https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/26/tiktok-dodges-questions-ab...

[3] https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/03/tiktok-just-gave-itself-pe...

[4] https://twitter.com/crobertsbmw/status/1427102606753550337

[5] https://krausefx.com/blog/announcing-inappbrowsercom-see-wha...

Re:TikTok Parent ByteDance Sees Losses Swell in Push for Growth by GuB-42 on Thursday October 06, 2022 @05:47PM (#33114516)
> I thought Facebook was worse, but looking at TikTok, it takes the most invasive spyware crown.

I think that Facebook is worse, not because of the trackers but because of the very nature of the network. TikTok is mostly one-way. There are content creators and consumers, the latter vastly outnumber the former, also, creators often post content that is staged in some way, they don't really show their "real self". Facebook is a "true" social network, it is more symmetrical and intimate and people produce as much as they consume. TikTok is about showing off to the world, Facebook has that too, but it also a platform where friends can do stuff in "private".

Facebook doesn't even need spyware. People willingly put their entire life online, and for the few who are not on Facebook, their friends who are post enough about them for Facebook to create an accurate shadow profile. TikTok spies on you, but Facebook makes every user a spy working for them.