Selling TikTok: Could a US Sale Affect Your Online Security and Wallet?

The more than 100 million American users of TikTok may soon be unable to use the app after the U.S. The app's Chinese parent business must sell it in the United States, or else the House of Representatives will vote to prohibit it.

Similar to other social media applications, including ones controlled by American businesses, worries about the massive quantity of private user data that TikTok's parent firm ByteDance, located in Beijing, has amassed and how it can endanger national security are common.

TikTok's fate hangs in the balance as the U.S. House of Representatives votes to pass legislation requiring the popular app to be sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban. Concerns over data privacy and national security drive the push for divestiture.

What Happens To Your Data

If the proposed legislation takes effect, ByteDance would have six months to sell TikTok or risk a U.S. ban, although legal challenges could prolong the process. While a sale could address data accessibility concerns, cybersecurity experts warn that it may not fully mitigate risks of data transfer to foreign entities, highlighting the need for robust oversight and safeguards.

Some observers anticipate that the Senate will enact the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act after House members approved it.

Users in the United States may easily keep using TikTok if ByteDance decides to sell the app. And in the mid- to long-term, a sale has a very strong possibility of eliminating China as a threat.

However, some specialists point out that security threats exist for all social media sites, even those controlled by the United States. While the focus is on TikTok's potential sale to address data privacy concerns, experts caution that all social media companies, regardless of ownership, present security risks.

Caitlin Chin-Rothmann from the Center for Strategic and International Studies highlights the inherent dangers of collecting vast amounts of personal data, stressing that a sale may address ownership concerns but may not guarantee improved data safety. Given the possible costs and legal obstacles, any sale of TikTok would be difficult.

The alternative to ByteDance selling TikTok under the proposed law would be for it to be removed from American app stores. Although President Biden has stated that he will sign the law if it passes the Senate, it is unclear if the wildly popular app could be banned countrywide, should things come to that. Prior attempts to accomplish this have been thwarted by legal disputes and worries about free speech.

What It Would Mean for Users

The more than 100 million people who have downloaded TikTok would probably still be able to use it even if it were prohibited in the United States. It may also be downloaded by new users using a virtual private network. Experts believe that TikTok's loyal and resourceful U.S. followers would discover methods to use the program even if it was removed from app stores.