This week the Canadian government banned TikTok from government phones, following the lead of several other countries. In the US, legislation has been introduced that would ban the app entirely.

There are security concerns about the data the app collects, and the ability of the government of China to access that data. The assumption appears to be that it will be exploited for more than just commercial purposes

TikTok is not the only software on your phone that collects your personal information. Some companies make a lot of money selling your user profile to advertisers. If you want to use the specific application, you grant permission – usually without thinking too much about it

I get the impression most people take a laissez-faire attitude towards their personal information online. Until you are hacked you don’t think much about it. But should we?

I don’t have TikTok on my phone. Never have. Partly because I don’t need yet another social media application, partly because I distrust government owned software. I didn’t download the COVID app either.

I also don’t trust government owned hardware, which meant I didn’t buy a phone from a state-owned company. Yes, all phones are made in China, I know that, but I hope there are checks to the manufacturing to make sure nothing malicious has been added to the hardware. I could be naïve about that. But I can’t afford a Solaris phone, and there are no more Blackberrys, so I make due.

What do you think? How do you feel about TikTok? Feel free to respond to the pol – and I promise I won’t do anything with your data.