Is Tiktok a bigger threat?

Regarding the March 13 news article “Is it bad politics to ban Tiktok in the U.S.? Some officials think so.”:

If we are facing the threat that Americans' personal data might be misused, shouldn't we be passing laws to protect Americans' personal data rather than simply banning or restricting a single globally popular (but foreign-owned) app?

Politicians seem to have no problem with Americans’ personal data being misused by U.S. corporations (or other Americans) in multiple ways, such as the ones illustrated by the March 12 frontpage article “Grindr app data mined to expose gay priests.” Instead of protecting Americans’ personal data, it appears that politicians are actually more concerned about hampering foreign competition while preserving the ability of Americans and U.S. corporations to pillage and exploit such data however they wish for economic (or political) profit.

I don’t hold out much hope that this will change — until our politicians are no longer beholden to campaign donations from the very groups and corporations that benefit from the current status quo.

God bless capitalism?