Tik Tok sainete and user privacy [Updated November 2020]

Update November 2020 (click here to read the update)

I had wanted to write this chronicle for a long time, but every time I got to it, something new happened, showing that the plot was still in development. So I parked it until further time. And it looks like now is a good time.

Earlier, in the Fortnite Chronicles, I took note that it is relevant again now. Then he said:

Collaterally, but not irrelevant, is Trump's threat to ban WeChat (by Tencent) in the United States.

Trump, in fact, tried to ban WeChat (from Tencent) but the uprising of the Chinese community in the United States - in addition to the enormous size of Tencent and its implications in many companies that have influence and business in the United States, disabled the motion.

Why do you want to ban WeChat and TikTok?

The excuse the Trump government uses for its meddling in the world of technology is the traffic of user data. That is, he does not like that the data of American teenagers or the millions of people who upload videos of their nonsense to Tok Tok, or who maintain contact with their roots in the Asian country, end up being hosted on a Chinese server that the Chinese government have access or can use for their (always obscure) intentions.

Next this is not a sentence handed down by a judge, in front of irrefutable evidence. It's a direct order from the US government (ie the Trump administration) "because they don't like it."

How the events unfolded

President Trump signed an executive order in August 2020 giving ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, 90 days to sell its U.S. business due to evidence (neither proven nor published) that national security could be threatened by the company based in China.

Subsequently, the WeChat block proposed by President Donald Trump's executive order was suspended by a California court, just hours before the app was to be removed from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store in the United States. 

WeChat is another Chinese app that is also in the president's spotlight. WeChat is owned by Tencent Holdings, which in turn has a stake in Epic Games, which owns Fortnite. When we faced the fight between Epic and Apple, we already made a profile of Tencent Holdings. You can read the article to get an idea of ​​the power of this company, inside and outside of China. 

The lifting of the block is caused by a lawsuit by WeChat users in the United States, who are suing the White House claiming that the block was unconstitutional for various reasons. These included, among others, the violation of the right to freedom of expression, as well as the lack of procedure and equality before the law. In the lawsuit it was also indicated that the block is illegal because it was aimed at Chinese-Americans who use the app to communicate with Chinese citizens, so it could have a component of racism.

The judge seemed to find the users' accusations well founded, as it prevented the app from being blocked.

The divestiture of TikTok, however, was not behind a user base so committed to continuing to use the app that it generated the same level of protection, and the negotiations between the US government and the Chinese company were unsuccessful. leaving the result in the air. TikTok filed a lawsuit against the lockdown in late August, but going through a different channel (judicial rather than executive) had no impact on the case.

Initially, Microsoft and Walmart discussed the partnership to buy the company, so they could position it as an Instagram competitor by developing their own store and advertising platform.

Finally, in an unexpected turn - another - of events, a final agreement was reached with Oracle. Details of the deal have not been made public until it is final.

A few hours before app downloads were blocked in the US, Vanessa Pappas, TikTok's acting director in the US, announced that the company had reached a proposal for a deal with Oracle and Walmart that would keep the platform alive. video. Village. According to Bloomberg, President Donald Trump also approved the deal.

Under this agreement, a new company would be formed, called TikTok Global, in which Oracle and Walmart would have 20% of the shares. TikTok Global would be headquartered in the United States and create 25.000 jobs in the country. Pappas said Oracle will be responsible for storing user data, underscoring the company's commitment to protecting user privacy.

However, after the euphoria of the "victory" of American companies, reports began to emerge indicating that the agreement did not solve the national security problems that had originated the initial blockade.

Since then, there has been no more discussion on the subject, with Donald Trump involved in an electoral campaign that polls give him as a loser ... and with a positive coronavirus that it will be necessary to see what impact it will have on a man of his age and condition.

Microsoft dances water to Donald Trump

One of the most pathetic shows of the entire computer age was Microsoft's press release about how the idea to bid on TikTok came about.

While the overwhelming majority of tech companies have either kept a glacial silence on the situation or directly denied having an interest in keeping Tik Tok, Microsoft saw it as a "civil" duty to take over the company in the United States. And he didn't skimp on the details:

Following a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald J. Trump, Microsoft is ready to continue discussions to explore a US TikTok purchase.

Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President's concerns. It undertakes to acquire TikTok subject to a complete security review and to provide adequate economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.

Microsoft press release

We translate:

“Following a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald J. Trump, Microsoft is ready to continue discussing how to buy the Tik Tok US subsidiary.

Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President's concerns. It has pledged to buy Tik Tok and have it undergo a complete security review and offer economic benefits to the United States, including the US Treasury. "

It is not just the dictatorial and outlaw character of the Trump order ("Speak out", as the other populist dictator put it), but the formulation of Microsoft's submission to the whims and whims of the President of the United States. What favor would Trump promise Microsoft or what actions would he threaten to take if he were ignored, so that Microsoft, which has fought so hard and for so long to rebuild its image after devastating monopolistic convictions, would stake its reputation to meet the president.

In the end, not even the promised favors or the aforementioned retaliation made up for the sacrifice, and Microsoft withdrew from the auction.

For the hair ...

The absurdity of the announced agreement between Tik Tok, Oracle and Walmart

Let's go back for a moment to review the transaction announcements and review them critically:

Oracle and Walmart will own 20% of the shares in TikTok Global.

Who has the other eighty percent? Is it still in the hands of Tencent? What kind of power can a ten percent shareholder (say 10 percent Oracle, 10 percent Walmart) have to prevent what the other eighty want to do?

Tik Tok Global will create 25.000 jobs in the United States.

Maybe in the country of the little pony that could be reality. But Walmart had 2012 employees in 2.200.000 and Oracle has 135.000 employees. Even in their wildest dreams, these companies won't need to create new jobs, one to store data on servers and the other to develop a digital platform.

Company commitment to protect user privacy.

That commitment already exists and is identical to that of Facebook, Google, etc. and we know how these things turn out. Ultimately, the only thing they are trying to do is for the data to change hands, but they will continue to be marketed the same way or more than when the headquarters were in China. If anything, Walmart's entry makes the intentions even more evident.

The (so far) winners of the auction

Any careful viewer might wonder what interest Oracle and / or Walmart might have in keeping Tik Tok. We establish the profile of each one.

Oracle

We can go to wikipedia to get an idea of ​​the Oracle profile.

Oracle Corporation is a company specializing in the development of cloud and on-premises solutions. According to the 2006 ranking, it ranks first in the database category and seventh in the world for information technology companies.

Its main product is the Oracle and Java database, which it acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems.

Here are the company purchases that Oracle made in the 21st century:
2004: Oracle acquires Peoplesoft
2005: Acquires Siebel Systems
2007: acquires Hyperion Solutions.
2008: acquisisce BEA Systems, GKS13 and RuleBurst Holdings Limited
2009: acquisition of Sun Microsystems.
2011: Acquires UK company Datanomic, Pillar Data Systems, FatWire Software, KSplice Inc, Inquira and RightNow Technologies.
2012: Purchase of Taleo, Clear Trial, Vitrue, Collective Intellect
2014: Oracle announces the purchase of Bluekai
2018: Purchase of Zenedge

I've simplified shopping for the sake of brevity, but you can check out everyone's activity on Wikipedia. Suffice it to say, it's all cloud software and services, artificial intelligence and security.

Walmart

Making wikipedia

Walmart is an American-born multinational retailer that operates discount department store chains and warehouse clubs.

• Walmart is the largest public company in the world (500 Fortune Global 2017).
• It is the largest retailer in the world
• It is one of the most valuable companies in the world.
• It is the largest grocery retailer in the United States.

In February 2010, Walmart agreed to buy Vudu, a Silicon Valley company founded in 2007, an online movie service.

Privacy ah

Can you imagine Europe starting to block US applications that use (European) user data to create profiles? Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Amazon would end ...

Obviously this is not about respect for privacy. It is a question that the data of US users (and all those who log in) remain in the United States.

It is another way of saying: "if you have to make money by exchanging privacy, let it be ours".

Eventually everything will probably end in nothing, or the appearance of something. Because Tik Tok has already said that he will not give the algorithm or technology to the US subsidiary and that he will close the application first. On the other hand, even the interface, to the winners, Oracle and Walmart, does not contribute in any way.

It is an absurd situation, brought about by an ignorant and capricious president, who only hurts strangers.

But these are the times we had to live through.

Conclusion

We are witnessing a political bullshit, which - as often happens - will have disastrous repercussions on users, which risks creating a totalitarian precedent in the "greatest democracy in the world" so that nothing changes in the end.

It is regrettable that reputable companies such as those mentioned have been allowed to manipulate by the cabinet of the President of the United States, because the economic benefit of the operation is marginal compared to the damage to reputation and credibility with users.

Under the guise of privacy, freedoms are increasingly limited, and citizens are anesthetized with ghostly fears and enemies, of widespread corporeality, but which allow rulers to maneuver (and here we are no longer just talking about the United States) to cling more to and more strength to the population, moving them like puppets with the excuse that it is to protect them.

But that's a lie. It is important that we are clear about this.

Update November 2020

A federal judge sided with the three TikTok stars who argued that President Trump's executive order to block service in the United States goes against the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment (which guarantees free speech).

Judge Wendy Beetlestone of the Federal District of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued an order on Friday that called for the suspension of the blockade, which was scheduled to go into effect on November 12, saying that the three plaintiffs in the case "had demonstrated a high degree of probability of damage. irreparable, ”according to Variety.

In the order, Judge Beetlestone writes that "the government's descriptions of the national security threat posed by the TikTok app are based on hypothetical events," so she was unable to find that "the government's risk is higher. to the public interest ".

Alec Chambers, Douglas Marland and Cosette Rinab sued President Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in September claiming a ban on TikTok would impact their ability to make money. Rinab makes between $ 5.000 and $ 10.000 per video, thanks to sponsored content from fashion brands and other companies, while Chambers earned $ 12.000 for a video recommending Extra gum.

Judge Beetlestone's decision is a departure from a previous decision, when another judge dismissed the creators' arguments. 

The suspension of the ban is the latest episode (for now) in the development of the grotesque attempt to ban the use of the TikTok application on American soil. The Trump administration had already tried to stop downloads in September, but a judge also overruled it hours before it went into effect. The Department of Justice has filed an appeal.

There are elections in the United States on Tuesday, with the potential for a change of government that could potentially represent a radical departure from the policy developed by the Trump administration.