an increasing number US public schools and universities ban TikTok A popular Chinese-owned social media app that allows users to share short videos.

They are following the lead of the federal government and several states in banning the social media app because the authorities believe that foreign governments — specifically China – Can use app to spy on Americans.

The application is created BytdencyBased in China and with ties to the Chinese government.

The University of Oklahoma, Auburn University (Alabama) and 26 public universities in Georgia have banned the app from their campus Wi-Fi networks. Montana’s governor asked the state’s university system to ban it.

Some elementary and middle schools have also blocked the app. In Virginia, public schools in Prince William and Loudoun counties have banned TikTok from school devices and school Wi-Fi networks. Louisiana’s state education chief has recommended that schools in the state remove the app from public devices and block it on school devices.

As a cybersecurity researcher, I don’t think these schools are overreacting. TikTok captures user data more aggressively than other apps.

The version of TikTok that is causing all these concerns is not available in China itself.. In an effort to protect Chinese students from the harmful effects of social media, the Chinese Communist Party introduced a rule that limits students’ time spent on TikTok to 40 minutes per day. They can only watch patriotic-themed videos or educational content like science experiments and museum exhibits.

Aggressive tactics to capture and collect user data

All major social media platforms raise privacy concerns and involve security risks for users.

But TikTok does more than the rest. Its default privacy settings allow the app to collect far more information than it actually needs to function.

Every hour, the app accesses users’ contact lists and calendars. It also collects the location of devices Used to access the service and can scan the hard drive connected to any of these devices.

If the user changes their privacy settings to avoid this check, the app will constantly ask them to reset this permission. Other social media apps like Facebook don’t ask users to review their privacy settings if they block their information.

How TikTok handles the data it collects from users also raises concerns. Ireland’s data protection regulator, for example, is investigating the possible illegal transfer of European citizens’ data to Chinese servers and possible violations of child privacy rules.

Cyber ​​Security Vulnerabilities

Like other social networking services, Researchers have discovered a serious vulnerability in TikTok.

In 2020, cybersecurity company Check Point discovered that users could send messages that appeared to come from TikTok but actually contained malicious links. When users clicked on those links, Check Point researchers could gain control over their TikTok accounts, access personal information, delete existing content, and even post new material under that user’s account.

Hackers have also taken advantage of TikTok’s viral trends to spread malware, creating additional cybersecurity problems. For example, a trend called “Invisible Body” encouraged users to use a TikTok filter called “Invisible Body” to record themselves naked, assuring users that their followers would only see a blurry image and not anything revealing.

Cybercriminals have created videos on TikTok in which they claim to have created software that will reveal users’ naked bodies by inverting the body-imaging filter. But the software they encouraged users to download actually stole users’ social media, credit card and cryptocurrency credentials from their phones, as well as files from victims’ computers.

Concern for national security

Many U.S. lawmakers oppose app-based location services, saying they could allow the Chinese government to track and locate U.S. citizens, including military or government officials.

If the Chinese government wants information on more than 90 million TikTok users, it doesn’t need to hack anything.

This is because China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law requires Chinese companies to share any data they collect if the government requests it.

Tech industry watchers have also raised concerns that ByteDance, the company that makes TikTok, may be partly owned by the Chinese government.

These issues take on even greater significance in the context of the Chinese government’s alleged efforts to build a massive “data lake” of information on all Americans. China has been linked to several large-scale cyberattacks targeting federal employees and American consumers. These attacks include the 2015 hack of the US Office of Personnel Management, the 2017 attacks on consumer credit reporting agency Equifax, and the 2018 attack on the Marriott International hotel group.

Teachers and school administrators have used TikTok in some interesting and useful ways, including connecting with students, building relationships, teaching about the risks of social media, and giving quick little lessons.

But it is not clear whether these positive effects outweigh the potential and actual harms. In addition to general concerns about the potential risks of social media addiction, some school officials say the increased use of TikTok has caused students to pay attention to teachers.

Additionally, the app’s algorithm for recommending videos for further viewing increases the risk of suicide and eating disorders. The “One Chip Challenge,” which asks TikTok users to eat a single potato chip containing two of the world’s hottest peppers, has sent several students to the hospital and made others sick.

TikTok videos have also led students to vandalism. In response to the viral challenge, some students stole sinks and soap dishes from schools.

With all this potential for harm, it’s no wonder school authorities are considering banning TikTok.

* This article was originally published on The Conversation by Nir Kshetri, Professor of Management, University of North Carolina – Greensboro

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