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DNC and RNC Warn Campaigns About Using TikTok (cnn.com) 79

Posted by msmash from the tussle-continues dept.
The Democratic and Republican national committees have warned their staffs about using the Chinese-owned app TikTok. From a report: The Democratic National Committee warned Democratic campaigns, committees and state parties Friday to take additional security precautions when using TikTok. In the email, the DNC security team wrote, "We continue to advise campaign staff to refrain from using TikTok on personal devices. If you are using TikTok for campaign work, we recommend using a separate phone and account." Republican National Committee national press secretary Mandi Merritt said Saturday the RNC had longstanding guidance on TikTok. "The RNC has advised employees and stakeholders to not download the TikTok app on their personal devices," she said, citing "security concerns." The DNC had suggested to campaigns in a memo in December not to use TikTok, citing concerns about the app's "Chinese ties and potentially sending data back to the Chinese government."
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DNC and RNC Warn Campaigns About Using TikTok More

DNC and RNC Warn Campaigns About Using TikTok

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  • Wow! (Score:5, Funny)

    by ls671 ( 1122017 ) on Monday July 13, 2020 @12:34PM (#60294110) Homepage

    Wow! It's great to see them agreeing on something! There might be hope after all.

    • They have agreed on war and austerity for over 50 years. They only bicker on the details.

      Somebody should warn the voters about the Wall Street (with large investments in China) owned DNC/GOP

    • I came here to say this, but in my heart i knew it was already said.

    • Wow! It's great to see them agreeing on something! There might be hope after all.

      The only reason they would agree on something, is if they're both getting screwed out of profits.

      Greed is as predictable, as a politician lying.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      It's great to see them agreeing on something! There might be hope after all.

      Actually a couple of months ago, both sides agreed on you-know-who taking Hydroxychloroquine.

      Probably for different reasons, but let's just celebrate bipartisanship when it happens.

  • Why would somebody be more worried about the Chinese government having all of their information than Google or Apple and whoever they sell the information to? I'm not understanding this seemingly huge cognitive dissonance.

    • Because unlike the Chinese party, google does not, as far as I know, intern people in prison camps also known as re-education centres!

    • Why would somebody be more worried about the Chinese government having all of their information than Google or Apple and whoever they sell the information to? I'm not understanding this seemingly huge cognitive dissonance.

      My understanding is Apple isn't huge into selling user data, that's more Facebook and Google's turf, but to answer your question, Google and Facebook are parasites. They have interest in keeping the host alive and thriving so they can get more data/ad-money. The Chinese gov doesn't have as much of a direct incentive to not act maliciously.

      If China and the US went to war, which I don't realistically see happening, China goes from indirect parasite to exterminator. They have more interest in winning the

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Lennie ( 16154 )

        When the US government comes knocking Apple needs to hand over the data. Simple as that.

        Even or especially for foreigners.

        • When the US government comes knocking Apple needs to hand over the data. Simple as that.

          Even or especially for foreigners.

          You know that they do comply every day with requests for information, but they can't give what they don't have. Why anyone concerned with privacy would have a phone other than an iPhone is beyond me.

        • Yep, and what has lawmakers worried is that whenever the government asks Apple for data, they get an encrypted binary blob. Google on the other hand literally sells search appliances for these types of requests and Facebook/Twitter simply call it a firehose and sell to anyone asking.

      • The threat is that any app with social networking has the potential to exfil info from the device(mobile). That is inherent reason for social media on the back end. Note: I don't believe fb was initially creates with this idea in mind. Zuckerberg probably realized the potential later after reviewing the database at some point. Google and the like use this data for monetary means, while China uses it to direct propaganda and overt/covert actions on other nations. You can develop entire plans around info t

    • Google is regulated by the US government, and so has to behave in certain ways.

      China is not regulated by the US government.

      Was that actually hard, or were you being intellectually dishonest?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DogDude ( 805747 )
        Google is regulated by the US government, and so has to behave in certain ways.

        I wasn't aware of that! What sort of regulations do they have to prevent them from collecting and selling all of the data they collect via "smart" phones?

        • I wasn't aware of that!

          In fact, you knew you were doing it even while you were derping all over your shirt. Who knows why.

          Oh, when somebody says "certain ways," you can't comprehend the word "certain?" As in, specific ways. OK. Well, if you can't comprehend the phrase "in certain ways," then I guess you can't be held responsible for being an idiot; you were born that way and we should accept you how you are. You're probably doing the best you can, under incredible difficulty, just to get to the fucking derp you posted above.

    • I'm not understanding this seemingly huge cognitive dissonance.

      Can it be more obvious?

      One word: distraction

    • It's not about whether some yokel might be more interested in Pampers or Depends, in this case.

      Here, there are actual people in power who might be susceptible to spying.

    • It's not either/or. The question is Chinese government + Apple/Google or just Apple/Google.

    • Because redirecting customer dissatisfaction to external villains is the health of the state.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Geekbot ( 641878 )

      Because the Chinese are fascist. Their government controls the business of the country. In the case of many tech companies there are close ties to the Chinese military. So the Chinese government/Chinese military getting coordinates along with timestamps of politicians and those associated with them is very dangerous. It's not really the politicians themselves.
      I'll give an example, lets say Trump has TikTok or his workers do. Chinese government can track comings and goings near the POTUS. The Chinese governm

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • We must deny the Commies our essence and our precious private data...unless they're willing to pay for access like everyone else.
  • I gave it a cursory scan when the daughter "brought it up" a year ago and said NO. No way this sh*t goes on any of our phones.

    I guess I had more foresight than the DNC and the RNC combined as well as all those corporate IT departments.

    You gotta be really dumb to put on your phone a social video service from a country where laws are optional and the Party is Avove The Law.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DogDude ( 805747 )
      It's highly unlikely that if you're American or European, that you have to worry about the Chinese government coming into your country to kidnap you. By using a "smart" phone, though, you are allowing Google/Apple and the owners of all of the other apps to have all of your data, as well. Depending on the country you live in, there's a good chance your own government has much of that data too. Worrying about a foreign country having access to your data seems like an odd thing to be so concerned about.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by MobyDisk ( 75490 )

        I notice you keep posting this same concept that because Google or Apple has your data, you should not care about anyone else having it. You posted it about the LinkedIn privacy violations discussion, and now again about TikTok.

        You keep talking about "your data" like it is one thing. LinkedIn knows my employer history. Google and Verizon have my location. My electric company has my electric bill. My bank has my credit card transaction history. It's not just one "your data." Stop oversimplifying it to "G

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by DogDude ( 805747 )
          If your email is on your phone, Google or Apple has your email. ALL of it. They have ALL of your phone calls, and ALL of your text messages. Google also has your employment history, if you access Linked in from your phone. Google also has your employment history if your resume is anywhere in your email. They also know your electric bill if you access that from your phone. If your electric bill is mailed to you, they have that, already. They definitely have your credit card transaction history, too, i

  • Re: "warned their staffs about using the Chinese-owned app TikTok."

    It seems to me it should be "staff" and not "staffs", but I'm not sure why, perhaps because it's already plural, like "people" such that we don't say "peoples" usually. And as a purely hypothetical grammar experiment, would it be plural if they were talking about flag poles or other elongated objects (which I'll leave to the imagination)?

    • This would be an appropriate grammatical structure, as it is referring to two groups of staff; hence "staffs". This is a double plural.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Tablizer ( 95088 )

        This is a double plural.

        So we have single plurals and double (multi) plurals. English has gone recursive/fractal/nested/something now.

        Maybe just use "teams" to avoid the issue.

        • If it's a valid grammatical structure, what's the problem? And yes, the English language has double plurals. And "staff" has different connotations than "team".

          So your nitpick isn't grammatical, it is aesthetic.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Tablizer ( 95088 )

            If it's a valid grammatical structure, what's the problem?...So your nitpick isn't grammatical, it is aesthetic.

            It could sound awkward to some readers because the multi-plural rule is probably relatively rarely needed in practice, even though it's perhaps technically correct. Books are judged by their covers, I'm just the messenger. If phrasing may come off awkward, I often look for alternatives.

            And "staff" has different connotations than "team".

            True, but in this case it doesn't seem to change anything imp

    • It seems to me it should be "staff" and not "staffs", but I'm not sure why, perhaps because it's already plural, like "people" such that we don't say "peoples" usually.

      Two different entities and each has a staff. If it said "staff" it would sound like they had one shared staff between them.

  • As well they should (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    If you have TikTok or (WeChat) on your phone, you have the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) monitoring what's on your phone. The CCP didn't spend billions of dollars building TikTok up to the size it is in a few years just so you could watch cat videos. The CCP effectively owns TikTok, WeChat etc. and they use it to monitor and manipulate public discourse. Different experiences (censorship etc.) for different users based on whether or not you are inside Chinese borders or not.

    Seriously, nobody should have any

  • Tik Tok sprung on the scene with massive investment and rocketted right to the top. From China.

    Nah, no special interest from the Oligarchs there giving protection and help.

    Hence the west putting it on a shit list using security as an argument kicks them in the balls for negotiations.

    But is this indication there might be an actual security risk?

    • But is this indication there might be an actual security risk?

      I feel that every time this is brought up on Slashdot, we all have to retrace our steps here on what's been seen in the app. Here is a link [slashdot.org] to what I've said about it before.

      Long story short. While there's not direct proof, it's doing a lot of questionable things, that you should question as to why it's doing those things. Now if that's enough to convince you to uninstall it, so be it. If it doesn't move the needle at all, so be it. But it is doing things that should have people wondering just what exa

    • And therein lays the issue. Americans are entirely uninformed in this day and age. The vast majority used to be educated enough to be weary of such potentially harmful actions. What I mean by this is that most educated men/women understood how communists operated. But the US somewhere along the line fell into this trap of false security when dealing with China. Most of this can probably be blamed on turning a blind eye to slave labor and offshoring American jobs. Which ironically supplied China with A
  • with China.

    Wars are often caused by warped, paranoid, self-hypnotizing stories fomented by insecure leaders.

    Exhibit 1: Vietnam (it was a bunch of locals trying to free themselves from French colonialism, not what the US thought it was.)
    Exhibit 2: 2nd Iraq war, 2003. Some bullshit story about Saddam Hussein supporting Al Quaida and having weapons of mass destruction.

    I rest my case.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • as an adversarial state.

        Also Iran.

        Also Venezuela.

        Also Cuba.

        as INTELLIGENT self-motivated agents (including societal super-organisms), you always have a choice,

        Fight/flight or Co-operate (make a bigger and more capable whole out of two parts).

        In all of these cases, economic co-operation and cultural understanding (and carrots rather than sticks wrt sticky issues like Iran nuclear development) would be the far-superior strategy.
        (This was already demonstrated convincingly by joint economic co-operative growth
    • Saddam killed hundreds of Kurds with chemical weapons. There were mass graves. https://www.bbc.com/news/world... [bbc.com] https://www.theguardian.com/wo... [theguardian.com] Anything else is besides the point.
      • Dozens of countries are severe human rights abusers (up to and including extrajudicial killing and sometimes large-scale murder.)
        Here's a list of 20.
        https://borgenproject.org/human-rights-violations/

        So is it your opinion that it is legitimate that one country, the USA, appoints itself judge, jury and executioner of the governments that so violate?

        Or might it make more sense, since there are 193 nation-states, that some international organization (let's call it, for the sake of argument, the International Cr

        • What exactly would the U.N. do? It has to pass any sanction through symmetrically opposed world powers. Even then, each country has sovereignty over many issues. The US isnâ(TM)t the world police, the only reason the US is involved anywhere is to keep the global economy running hence it is only interested in powers with significant potential influence in shipping lanes (China, Iran, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, South Korea). Russia has the same problem but on land instead of on sea, they have major pipe

  • Given the frothing sort of social zealot that works on political campaigns, I completely understand that they would have to be told "no, this is one particular avenue of your narcissism that you can't indulge".

  • App stores and security review (Score:3)

    by Statecraftsman ( 718862 ) on Monday July 13, 2020 @04:38PM (#60295088)
    If this app is so bad, why is it still available in app stores? Seems to me a problem better solved at the permissions and app store level. Permissions should be made simpler to view and manage. Apps should fail gracefully if disallowed a particular permission. Should also be possible to allow this once a permission that is as sensitive as reading the clipboard.

    • Apps should fail gracefully if disallowed a particular permission.

      This could be achieved easily by the OS not telling the app outright that the permission has been refused. Just pretend that the clipboard is always empty for instance...

  • op sec, anyone ? (Score:3)

    by speedlaw ( 878924 ) on Monday July 13, 2020 @06:10PM (#60295326) Homepage
    GRU hacks both sides. The dem stuff is good to get Trump into office. The GOP stuff is better...they keep it and use it for blackmail. I'd be writing on post it notes and passing them along.

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