The State of Ohio Bans TikTok: What You Should Know
In January 2023, The State of Ohio banned the use of TikTok on government devices, joining other states in their efforts to protect national and local security. There are two important questions to address. Why was TikTok banned? How does this effect the YSU community?
Why was TikTok banned?
How does this affect the YSU Community?
What is TikTok? TikTok is the latest social media platform that has garnered massive user support and participation. TikTok allows users to create and share short videos on any topic with users often incorporating pre-recorded audio, special backgrounds, and text to convey their message. TikTok's popularity is also due in fact to it's seamless incorporation with other popular social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Users can create content on TikTok and post the content not only on TikTok but also on Instagram. Due to its rocketed success, it is also often used by companies, media, and celebrities in marketing campaigns to reach younger audiences.
TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is based in China. One common concern is that the Chinese government will leverage TikTok to access US user data and devices. This concern exists from the level of access TikTok governs once it is downloaded on a device. Major security concerns with the download and use of TikTok include:
- TikTok's access to phone contacts. TikTok prompts users to access their contacts. According to TikTok's Privacy Policy, TikTok can capture and review the contact information captured from the user's contacts as well as additional information collected from any other publicly available source.
- TikTok's data harvesting from other social media accounts. Linking your other social media account with your TikTok accounts can provide TikTok with personal information from the other accounts including demographic data, personal information, and social network connections. TikTok's Privacy Policy also details its collection of purchasing information to include payment card numbers, billing addresses, and shipping addresses. TikTok's data collection beyond the user's activity on TikTok builds an invasive profile of users, raising privacy concerns.
Note: For more information about data harvesting and how to protect yourself online, refer to Data Harvesting.
- TikTok's back door. TikTok may grant access to third-party apps that the user does not recognize or that is not necessary for the successful use of the platform. These third-party apps will operate and access the user's phone and data with the same level of access TikTok possesses on the device. Users should review the app permissions.
The most alarming concern is Tiktok's data harvesting on its users. In its privacy policy, TikTok identifies 3 sources of the data it collects per user:
- data the user provides
- data from other sources
- automatically collected data
It is important to note that only 1 of the 3 possible data sources is given directly by the user. All other data harvested by TikTok is gathered by monitoring user interactions on other social media platforms, levying information from advertisers, and tracking user devices. In fact, TikTok's Privacy Policy includes information obtained from the user's devices such as IP address, mobile carrier, device model, time zone, location data, biometric identifiers and biometric information (faceprints and voiceprints).
Ohio has banned TikTok on government devices. What does that mean for the YSU community?
YYoungstown State University is a government-funded higher education institution. All university owned devices (phones, tablets, laptops, and PCs) fall under the ban of TikTok on government devices. YSU users should remove TikTok from all university devices. For more information about removing TikTok from your device, refer to Remove TikTok from iOS Mobile Devices for iOS mobile devices or Remove TikTok from Computers and Laptops for PCs and laptops. Users should also review YSU's Acceptable Use Policy as users are expected to follow these guidelines when using university technology.
If you must use TikTok in the classroom or for business purposes such as promoting a University activity, please contact the IT Service Desk for more information.
Have more questions about YSU's response to the State of Ohio ban of TikTok on government devices? Reach out to the Service Desk by phone at (330) 941-1595 or via email at servicedesk@ysu.edu.
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