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Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by organsnyder on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @10:52AM (#39691906)
It's amazing the lengths we'll go in the United States to avoid passing a comprehensive national privacy protections law.
Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by ryandvm on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @11:23AM (#39692403)
Privacy isn't the main problem. Having an mildly adversarial nation state wielding a massive propaganda firehouse on US citizens is the bigger issue.
Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by JumpCrisscross on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @10:54AM (#39691946)
> to avoid passing a comprehensive national privacy protections law

It’s unclear there is support for that. I’ve worked on privacy issues. Virtually nobody calls in support of them.

This, on the other hand, is a national security bill. Every elected I know is being inundated from both sides.

Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by thomastjeffery on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @12:02PM (#39693165)
Privacy is not an engaging issue. It isn't controversial to most people.

The problem is that our first-past-the-post voting system naturally prioritizes engagement over everything else. That's why our elections are always about controversy, and never about progress.

Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by sickofparadox on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @10:54AM (#39691931)
One could hope that this is a brick in the path towards a solid, comprehensive privacy law at the national level. Especially given bipartisan criticism of "home grown" spying platforms such as Facebook and Google, it certainly doesn't seem impossible (just unlikely).
Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by rusty_venture on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @10:53AM (#39691918)
A Chinese company isn't bound by US laws, so this is a necessary precursor to that.

Edit: I stand corrected, they are bound by our laws, but it's orders of magnitude easier to enforce those laws on a company based in the US than a company based in China.

Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by barrkel on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @10:56AM (#39691966)
Normally how this works is that national laws dictate what an app can do when operating in the nation's territory, and it's then up to the app owner to decide whether they want to do business in that nation's territory or not.

This is how EU rules apply to US tech companies. US rules for Chinese tech companies is no different in principle.

IMO however the problem isn't privacy, it's being able to stick a thumb on the algorithmic feed and control the information consumption of a slice of society. And TikTok isn't the only problem, it's broadly applicable across consumer tech.

Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by mikeyouse on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @10:53AM (#39691928)
If they operate in the US, they certainly are.
Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by tivert on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @10:57AM (#39691992)
> If they operate in the US, they certainly are.

Theoretically, yes. But the US isn't a police state where their activities would be constantly monitored in great detail for compliance. There's a lot they could do under the radar, and a lot of groundwork they could lay for some future inappropriate action.

Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by notaustinpowers on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @10:54AM (#39691943)
If it wants to operate in the US, yes it does. For the same reason that US companies are complying with EU GDPR/DMA laws.