Thursday March 3, Tiktok released restricted time settings for teenagers using the app, though you only need to type in a password to remove the block, or the function can simply be turned off. Later a media release broke that public officials in Canada have been banned from using or having an account on the platform, due the concern of the collection of data, by TikTok's China-based parent company, and by influence, the Chinese government.  

The release of information of suspected data mining, by the Chinese government through the social media platform, has sparked conversations about all social media platforms and how they are collecting, using and sharing consumer data. Debates about the difference between using TikTok and other platforms, like Facebook, has arisen - why is the concern of the Chinese government, any different to having your data mined by Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Meta Platforms) - it there a bias because of the political and international arena, and subsequent suspicions.  Further, sparking a debate about the use of consumer's collected data: "they are not using it for you, they may not be using it against you", however they are free to sell consumer data onto advertising and marketing firms.

ABC Radio Sydney Breakfast host, James Valentine, asks "what is with all this data harvesting and why do we allow it to go on?"

IFCYBER Member, Professor Salil Kanhere, comments... [01:04:45]

ABC Sydney Breakfast radio