co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman speaks during a hearing with the House Communications and Technology and House Commerce Subcommittees on Capitol Hill on Oct. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) called the video app "China's best detective." government opened an investigation into TikTok in November. Lawmakers and leaders within the tech industry have been critical of the app for this reason. A decentralized version of TikTok is something I can use. It’d have all the fun and memes and no negative effects of data leaks," he explained. Luckily new technologies like Web 3 and decentralized apps are built for privacy and user ownership.
TikTok highlights this because of Chinese ownership but the problem is much deeper. "You need to hand over your data and identifying information to random companies on the internet. "The root of the issue is this model of people just handing over data." "We have these viral applications that people are installing without realizing what they’re signing up for," he said. But this trust has caused people to become comfortable with signing off on privacy notices without reading the whole thing, Ali explained.
He added that people are trusting of U.S.-made apps and software because they operate under certain laws that make them seem more reliable to the average smartphone user.
A 2017 Chinese law introduced by President Xi Jinping states that "any organization and citizen" shall "support and cooperate in national intelligence work," according to Foreign Policy magazine.Īli said he downloads all the apps he uses that request microphone access on a phone separate from the one he uses regularly to communicate because even apps that aren't developed in foreign countries can get access to "all communication, even if your phone is in your pocket."