Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • The Guardian

    Should you delete TikTok from your phone? | Chris Stokel-Walker

    The app is treated as suspect because of its Chinese ownership. But the way it gathers data is no different from other tech giants
    by Chris Stokel-Walker Jul 21, 2020 4 minutes
    ‘For the first time, an app with its roots in China is starting to make significant inroads into western society.’ Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

    It’s a tough time to be a TikToker. The video-sharing platform owned by the Chinese technology giant ByteDance has been censured in India, accused of “spying” by the president of the United States, and has provoked the ire of former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith in the UK. Listen to the prognostications of some politicians or visit certain corners of the internet and you’d think TikTok was a deep-state plot to capture your data so it can be mined by Chinese spies.

    The truth is more complicated. We happily hand over just as much data to plenty of other apps, including about the US National Security Agency eavesdropping on all our communications. While TikTok may have been described as a “”, the same could also be said of Facebook or any other popular social media platform.

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from The Guardian

    The Guardian6 min readRobotics
    Robot Dogs Have Unnerved And Angered The Public. So Why Is This Artist Teaching Them To Paint?
    The artist is completely focused, a black oil crayon in her hand as she repeatedly draws a small circle on a vibrant teal canvas. She is unbothered by the three people closely observing her every movement, and doesn’t seem to register my entrance int
    The Guardian4 min read
    ‘Still A Very Alive Medium’: Celebrating The Radical History Of Zines
    A medium that basks in the unruliness and unpredictability of the creative process, zines are gloriously chaotic and difficult to pin down. Requiring little more to produce than a copy machine, a stapler and a vision, zines played a hugely democratiz
    The Guardian4 min read
    Lawn And Order: The Evergreen Appeal Of Grass-cutting In Video Games
    Jessica used to come for tea on Tuesdays, and all she wanted to do was cut grass. Every week, we’d click The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker’s miniature disc into my GameCube and she’d ready her sword. Because she was a couple of years younger than m

    Related Books & Audiobooks