TikTok could be banned from being distributed by U.S. app stores this Sunday if the US takes the case to a hearing this weekend.
On Thursday, district judge Carl Nichols told the U.S. government to either delay a ban, or file their response to TikTok’s complaints against the ban by Friday afternoon U.S. time. If the latter happens, there will be a hearing on the weekend before the ban is set to come into effect.
The US maintains that TikTok, which is in talks with Oracle regarding handing cloud provision, represents a national security threat because American user data could be sent back to China. This is a claim that TikTok has repeatedly denied.
All apps come with a level of risk, and TikTok’s data collection practices aren’t that different to any of the other advertising-based businesses that you can find in the app stores. If anything, there are other apps that may pose more of a threat given the amount of data that they suck out of devices in order for their business models to function.
However, security concerns do still remain in place due to questions on where personal data is stored and how the data could potentially be misused, therefore such scrutiny shouldn’t be overlooked.
Users need to question whether installing an app and setting up an account is really worth the exchange in handing over their personal data to these huge companies.