I want to see what TikTok is about but also want to retain some privacy. If its on F-droid, playstore or as a APK I don’t mind.
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Don’t use tiktok, it’s really bad for your privacy, a super addictive app. The main point is to just watch recommended videos rather than searching, which makes it more like TV. It also censors content, and most of what you’ll find there is actually bad. The app is proprietary, therefore making a different client is hard. (Newpipe for example doesn’t recommend videos to you that aren’t in your list, but tiktok’s recommendation algorithm can’t be done this way. Anyway, better not to get started, it will just waste your time.
Horrible answer. I can see you haven’t tried it just based on your comment. Also, you didn’t even answer the question.
Understand me right, tiktok is surveillance just like youtube, so it’s comparatively bad as youtube. It is centralized, it heavily relies on algorithms.
However, there is nothing wrong with the content. I have learnt a lot from using tiktok. In particular, I have received the perspective of marginalized people. The creators compete for delivering the most concise arguments.
Additionally, the tools to create videos are great. It uses elements of creative commons. Using stitching for creating debates, dueting for showing solidarity. Adding wise words from other creators on top of your juggling videos.
We should take inspiration from tiktok from what it does right. And to see that people reduce this platform to only it’s cons makes me infuriated because it does a hell of a lot right.
I agree with this. If anyone’s interested to work on a tiktok replacement, let’s find a way to join up and work on making these various right things work in a privacy-respecting, fun, and FOSS set of projects. @libre_warrior@lemmy.ml are you aware of any good rallying points? A new community perhaps or existing software project?
While I may not have provided the answer to your question, I would like to supplement the privacy part of it aptly, because I am tired of the unspoken Western Big Tech apologia. TikTok OBJECTIVELY collects far lesser data than Big Tech apps and services, according to reports from 2 reputed data collection analysis companies. Moreover, the below assumes you have an account, which is not even needed to use TikTok, unlike Instagram or Snapchat.
https://clario.co/blog/which-company-uses-most-data/ https://www.truepeoplesearch.com/insights/info-tech-companies-collecting-from-you
One of the key important aspects of threat modelling for your desired privacy is the acceptance of facts instead of false nationalist opinions.
Though I am with you in hating Western Big Tech apologia, I don’t agree with this point overall. Even the sources you linked show that TikTok collects an ungodly amount of data on its users. The Clario study shows that it’s in 6th place… is being lower than Facebook and Instagram supposed to be an accomplishment? And it’s much higher than Twitter and Zoom, which is definitely not a good thing.
I do not think you understand how TikTok is treated compared to Facebook and the likes amongst biased Westerners. Hell even in India here, it is banned for no reason other than political posturing. For some reason, TikTok activates Sinophobia, but discussion about Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat (which collect incomparably more data and latter 2 unusable from browser) is good manners.
Go search “TikTok” on r/privacy and observe comments on every single post there. Then, compare my above comment to all of those. Then, read the below stuff. Then tell me if you notice something.
From a very, very old comment I made once on reddit:
I think the difference is that ultimately China (the government, not it’s people) is an enemy of the “wester alliance” - “the west”, if you will. You can work, and even cooperate, with an enemy to a degree, but you don’t let them into your house. It’s pretty basic at it’s core. TikTok is from a simplistic POV, is at the whims of the Chinese government - much like Facebook/Insta/Snap are to the US government although to a much lesser extent. We don’t worry about FB/Insta/Snap because they operate within the “western” jurisdiction and are “trusted” within their domain.
Being rational also requires you take real-life risks into consideration. This would be like saying “why don’t you treat your friends the same way you treat the local crackhead when he walks through your store? He’s just there to buy essentials” - yes, he may be there to actually buy things, but he’s much more likely to do something nefarious than your known friends.
95% Chinese people approve of their government, according to a Harvard study conducted over 16 (or 20?) years and statistical sampling of over 30k people (which accounts for over a billion people easily). China’s people very much view and understand the Western imperialist atrocities, and do not want to see a third Opium War again. They are already viewing their public demonisation caused during COVID by Trump and rightwingers, and viewing the crap Western propaganda media apparatus throws at them by faking Xinjiang anti terrorism measures as a genocide (that does not exist).
They do not work under any trusted domain, and people use them while being data raped due to network effect. I need WhatsApp due to the same reason, and have it sandboxed.
I would love to know when China bombed people using metadata gathered using phones and computers, because one thing I am certain about, is that USA has done it multiple times (https://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-project-maven-drone-warfare-artificial-intelligence), and former CIA director Hayden proudly said “we kill people based on metadata”. If anything, China has never genocided, neither on its territory, nor on foreign territory.
USA and Anglosphere, however, has done multiple genocides and foreign interventions in the past 5+ centuries, essentially modern history, and has plenty overreach across the world with its 800+ basecamps around the world, not to mention the 14 Eyes + Japan + Israel surveillance network with Big Tech and the propaganda news media apparatus of USAGM + CFR + Bilderberg + Murdoch outlets.
So, what are these real life risks that China, out of my jurisdiction, out of concern, with no warmongering and imperialist interests, has on me? Or for that matter, on anyone?
What is this bullcrap? any data collection is bad regardless if it comes from CCP or the NSA.
One way to limit it is to use something like Blokada or NetGuard apps that blocks Ads and trackers.
There’s not really a way around getting the app, it’s all closed-loop proprietary stuff. I believe that you can browse on the website if you’d prefer, but you’ll still need an account for it to be worthwhile, and most of the content is designed for mobile screens.
Just like most corporate social media you will need to make some compromises on your privacy and data sharing to use it, but it’s not necessarily worse than any other apps of this type.
You can always just look on Youtube for videos from tiktok. People always post videos from tiktok on Youtube. There is also videos on reddit from tiktok.
It’s a web but (proxitok)[https://github.com/pablouser1/ProxiTok] is there
Finally! Huge thanks!
For some reason this isn’t shown as a hyperlink, eventhough the syntax for it looks correct
But it is, in fact, incorrect. Square brackets go first for the name, and then regular brackets for the URL. It’s easy to get them mixed up, though.