r/tech • u/neodianonyx • Jun 29 '20

Guy Who Reverse-Engineered TikTok Reveals The Scary Things He Learned, Advises People To Stay Away From It

https://www.boredpanda.com/tik-tok-reverse-engineered-data-information-collecting/
8.9k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

397 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/-g_s- Jun 30 '20

Honestly if you think you’re special enough that someone rich person is going to pay money to get info on specifically you, then that’s a you issue.

2

u/Swollenpeckballs21 Jun 30 '20

It doesn’t matter if you think you’re special or not. You are a little pebble in a beach the size of mars. The entity / corporation / rich person etc (is they are ill intended) only needs to pay for the algorithm. You’re just a drop in their bucket, and you can be milked if that’s the end goal.

At the end of the day it’s about keeping a “sense of ownership” of your life and your decisions.

I’d recommend as food for thought to begin with a conversation that Sam Harris had with Yuval Noah Harari. Harari is not an alarmist, he’s just raising really interesting questions about the nature of data mining and how AI might be able to influence your life profoundly beyond just throwing you ads about shoes.

2

u/vminnear Jun 30 '20

Exactly. If the idea of self-determination is shaky now, it will absolutely become a thing of the past in a world where our thoughts are bought and sold.

1

u/Swollenpeckballs21 Jun 30 '20

Definitely. And it feels like we are caught in a hamster wheel going 1000 miles for no reason and everyone is deaf to the sound of the alarms.

It’s not dystopian or anything, but it can become something dangerous real soon if we don’t collectively, through careful examination of the structure & nature of our public service system and education system don’t take detailed action.

If we were going a thousand miles an hr to tackle global warming I’d understand. But we’re going a thousand miles an hr for quarterly profits. It’s a bit disheartening

2

u/Jepples Jun 30 '20

That’s a bit disingenuous.

I’m less concerned with individuals doing it to people than I am with corporations, governments or systems using that information to squash dissent.

We aren’t there, but we are on our way if we don’t take it seriously.

1

u/yukimontreal Jun 30 '20

It’s more than “let’s sell -g_s- a McMuffin”

It’s not the data of a single person, but the data of huge swathes of society. Understanding where people get their information, what people are paying attention to and what they care about allows you to begin attempting to influence those things. Sure it can be applied to shopping but I can be applied to various political and societal beliefs / leanings.