TikTok: The Social App that Comes with a Pentagon Warning

If you’ve tuned out on yet another social media application that you’re never going to use, it’s time to take a look at TikTok. TikTok is used to create and share short-form videos. Owned by Beijing-based parent company ByteDance, it was launched in 2016 and has become wildly popular among users, including celebrities, with more than 1.3 billion downloads worldwide. 

TikTok’s popularity is fueled by the fear of missing out (FOMO) and what seems to be an insatiable desire to be seen, to have an audience, if only for a moment. TikTok promises that you can “watch endless videos customized specifically for you. A personalized video feed based on your preferences.” 

But incidents over the past year have caused privacy experts to question how data from TikTok is being collected and used, and whether it’s being censored by the Chinese government. 

There’s that data thing again

In TikTok’s case, you’re sharing data with the Chinese government, and that’s the problem. I just looked at the privacy policy, and right up front, I see that I’m volunteering: 

• My age, username and password, language, and email and phone number.
• If you choose to find other users through your social network contacts (which of course you will—that’s what social is all about), they will collect your public profile information, plus names and profiles of your social contacts.

There’s more, but you get the idea

As a consequence, in a December message to all military branches, the Pentagon said there was a “potential risk associated with using the TikTok app.” It advised employees to take precautions to safeguard personal information. US military branches now have banned TikTok on government-issued smartphones in an effort to secure and defend their networks.

Despite the ban, troops continue to use TikTok on their personal devices

According to cybersecurity experts, this poses many of the same security threats that were present when the app was being used on government phones. 

Spies could use video metadata to track the movements of US personnel, potentially exposing a secret mission or endangering the lives of deployed troops. Phone hacking could expose personal finances, relationships or sexting that makes them susceptible to blackmail. 

A loosely defined policy about social media usage

Policy is somewhat loose; it advises personnel not to do anything that disrespects the Army. As long as they’re not promoting products in uniform, they’re operating within the law. 

More education on TikTok’s risks

Michael Nowatkowski, an associate professor of cyber sciences at Augusta University and senior research fellow at the Army Cyber Institute believes TikTok poses a greater risks than other social-media companies because of ByteDance’s Chinese ownership. He didn’t believe the military had the resources to enforce an outright ban on personal devices. 

Instead, Nowatkowski believes the military should educate troops on the risks of downloading TikTok on their personal devices. To that point, all Department of Defense personnel take annual cyber-awareness training about the threats that social media can pose. It may or may not be enough.

That data thing just keeps popping up. For help with your social media strategy, talk with Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts.

Google Plus Calls It Quits After Data Breach

Google has finally thrown in the towel on Google Plus. No surprise here. Google launched their social media application in 2011 to compete with Facebook and it never really gained traction. By 2018, Google Plus was little more than an afterthought. But you really have to wonder why all those smart people at Google couldn’t make this work. They’re calling it quits after a data breach.

What were those circles all about anyway?

When Google Plus came out, we created accounts and gave it a try, but it wasn’t fun because, well, no one else was using it. No one really engaged. Apparently 90% of user sessions lasted fewer than five seconds. Compare that with addictive sessions on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

But there’s more to this story than just an application that no one wants to use

Google chose to sunset Google Plus over an issue with bigger implications. According to The New York Times, “security vulnerability exposed the private data of some 500,000 users.” Google didn’t tell us about the application’s security issue when it was discovered because it didn’t appear that anyone had gained access to user information, and the company’s Privacy & Data Protection Office decided it was not legally required to report it.

If you’re not paying attention, data security has become a very big deal

The decision to stay quiet raised eyebrows in the cybersecurity community, as it comes against the backdrop of relatively new and stricter rules in California and Europe that govern when a company must disclose a security episode.

Up to 438 applications made by other companies may have had access to the vulnerability through coding links. Outside developers could have seen user names, email addresses, information about occupation, gender and age. They apparently did not have access to phone numbers, messages, Google Plus posts or data from other Google accounts.

Google was concerned about damage control

Now, according to The Wall Street Journal, a memo prepared for senior executives by Google’s policy and legal teams warned that disclosing the problem would expose the company’s vulnerability and invite regulatory scrutiny. CEO Sundar Pichai would likely be called to testify before Congress in the same way that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg did after its security breach. Google had planned to announce the disclosures, but moved up the announcement date when it learned of The Journal’s article.

In May, Europe adopted new data protection laws that require companies to notify regulators of a potential leak of personal information within 72 hours. Google’s security issue occurred in March, before the new rules went into effect. And yes, this applies to Google—it’s a global company.

California is getting serious about information accountability

California’s strict new privacy law goes into effect in 2020. In the event of a data breach, consumers can sue for up to $750 for each violation. It also gives the attorney general the right to pursue companies for intentional privacy violations.

What’s next? A hearing about whether tech companies are filtering conservative voices in their products. The Republicans are going to be all over this one.

German Regulators Outlaw Facebook’s Ad Business

Things keep getting worse for Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook’s lucrative advertising model ($1B/quarter) relies on tracking its 1 billion users across the online space. Facebook collects data about where we shop and what we buy. But now Germany has outlawed Facebook ads.

Privacy advocates argue that Facebook isn’t transparent enough about what it does with the data.

Germany’s antitrust regulator has ruled that Facebook is exploiting consumers

In an important move that has implications for Facebook ad users worldwide, Germany agrees. Its antitrust regulator, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO), has ruled that Facebook is exploiting consumers by requiring them to agree to the current data collection practice as part of having a Facebook account. It has now prohibited the practice going forward.

“Facebook will no longer be allowed to force its users to agree to the practically unrestricted collection of non-Facebook data to their Facebook user accounts,” FCO president Andreas Mundt said in a statement.

Consumer “consent” is a misrepresentation

Lina Khan, Columbia Law School antitrust expert, believes that authorities haven’t done a good job of articulating why privacy is an antitrust issue. But the German regulator clarifies it. They believe that Facebook’s dominance is what allows it to impose contractual terms on users that require them to allow Facebook to track them.

The harm to users is the loss of control

“When there is a lack of competition, accepting terms of service isn’t truly “consenting”. Users are not presented with choices. They either accept the data collection or stop using Facebook.According to German regulators, the harm to Facebook’s users is the “loss of control.”

With an 80% market share, Facebook dominates the social space in Germany

Facebook had 32M monthly active users in Germany at the end of 2018, a market share of more than 80%. “As a dominant company, Facebook is subject to special obligations under competition law. Facebook users cannot switch to other social networks,” said Mundt.

Privacy and competition are intertwined

The ruling makes clear that privacy and competition are inextricably intertwined. If Facebook loses, Germany will become a test case in whether the surveillance economy is fundamental to the operation of social media.

Facebook insists that tracking makes services safer and better

The FCO believes Facebook hasn’t proven that data collection and bundling are in the best interest of every consumer and that its sites couldn’t function without it.

Facebook’s response: “We disagree with their conclusions and intend to appeal so that people in Germany continue to benefit fully from all our services.” What’s at stake? Facebook would potentially have to change how it processes data for German users. If Facebook loses the appeal, Germany will have successfully challenged the relationship between the collection of user data and the social media accounts from which that information comes.

Other Europeans and Americans well may demand they be given the same option, and there would be implications for all of us. Only the very naïve believe that it’s only Facebook that is guilty of sharing user data. Facebook’s the one that got caught.

Do you need help with your marketing strategy? Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and internet marketing experts.

Facebook, Privacy and Your Data

It’s been a tough year for Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook

Facebook’s data wound up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica, who used the information to target voters during the 2016 election. Facebook allowed Microsoft’s Bing search engine to see the names of virtually all Facebook users’ friends without consent and gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read Facebook users’ private messages. Facebook downplays the data privacy breach, claiming that it never granted access to user data without permission.

You really can’t overestimate the value of user data

Personal data has become the most prized commodity of the digital age, and it’s traded on a vast scale by powerful companies in Silicon Valley and beyond. For those who may not understand what this is all about, it’s hard to overestimate the value of user data. Data helps us understand consumer buying habits, and it’s worth its weight in gold. It helps companies know how to market to whom. Facebook users make it easy by happily providing detailed information about their lives as they fill in fields with their new job titles, education levels, marital status, interests, hobbies, etc. This information can all be exported and shared with other companies.

Sharing consumer data: How this works

Let’s say you just got engaged, so of course you added this to the Relationship field of your Facebook page. The average couple spends $25,000 on their wedding, so there’s a lot of money to be made here. Now think of all the vendors that service the wedding industry—florists, bakeries, hotels, caterers, photographers, dress designers, wedding planners, etc.

The more upscale (You’ve already identified your education level, community and job title, which are affluence indicators), the more interested these vendors are going to be. They want to identify those couples who are most likely to be spending upwards of $25K so they can begin marketing to these potential new wedding clients.

Facebook executives have acknowledged missteps over the past year

Facebook understands they’ve got to regain user trust, and it requires stronger teams, better technology and clearer policies. One spokeswoman says it has found no evidence of abuse by its partners. Some of the largest partners, including Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo, said they had used the data appropriately, but declined to discuss the sharing deals in detail. Facebook did admit to mismanaging some of its partnerships.

What’s next for Facebook?

Facebook is facing decelerating revenue growth—they’ve begun to saturate their market, at 1.74B users. Data privacy issues have taken a toll, but Facebook sees big opportunities in private messaging. Stories format and video. Facebook is investing in data privacy and messaging. Augmented and virtual reality represent a significant investment.

This last summer, California’s state legislature passed a groundbreaking bill that will give residents unprecedented control over their data. The law, criticized by pro-business groups like the Chambers of Commerce, will become law on January 1, 2020. Tech giants are racing to supersede the law with more industry-friendly legislation. A lot could happen before then.

Do you need help with your social media strategy?

Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and internet marketing specialists.