Do you want to use TikTok but don't feel confident about it? Sophos' tips will help you use it safely:

As Sophos writes, TikTok has long been the new star in the social media sky, replacing prominent predecessors such as MySpace, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. And even though the ideas behind these platforms have always been innovative, one thing remains the same: the basis of their success is masses of private data that migrate to the Internet in a more or less well-protected manner. In the current case, TikTok offers the opportunity to “present” yourself with short videos between three seconds and a minute. The platform is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.

The success of TikTok is primarily due to the possibilities for newer and more individual ways of interaction. Launched in 2016, 2020 was the breakthrough year for the video application. The Covid-19 pandemic, which is known to be associated with a lot of social isolation, has played a large part in the popularity of TikTok. The application allows users to quickly and easily share small videos with each other, thereby bringing a little variety and cheerfulness into the dull and often frustrating everyday pandemic life.

But TikTok is not just a purely private leisure activity. It can also be an important marketing communication tool for companies. For example, the Japanese snack “Little Moons” experienced a huge boom in many countries around the world with the help of TikTok. Its own fan hashtag has over 174 million views and the TikTok-fueled success is also visible in the supermarket: Little Moons says it recorded a 700 percent increase in sales. And all of this goes beyond paid influencer promotion...

Friend or foe – is TikTok a Trojan horse from the Chinese government?

Despite all the hype, the application hasn't just made friends. For example, the Indian government banned TikTok in June 2020 along with 58 other Chinese mobile phone apps. The security concerns cited are largely based on the fact that TikTok is a Chinese company and, according to Chinese law, it must share all information with the government.

India sees this as a threat to its national security. The USA also sees the app as threatening, as it gives the Chinese government greater reach than ever before. Some US companies, including the US financial services provider Wells Fargo, have already asked their employees to uninstall TikTok from their operating devices. The US military has banned the platform from government-issued phones.

So much for the concerns. In fact, there is so far no solid evidence of a possible data theft by TikTok that goes beyond the normal data collection frenzy of many internet giants. In fact, the type of data that Facebook collects, for example, is more likely to reveal far more detailed information about individual users than TikTok. If you still want to achieve the maximum in terms of data security, as long as the platforms allow it, Sophos gives the following recommendations when it comes to TikTok settings - which certainly also apply to other social media platforms:

It's better to set up a private TikTok account

The big advantage of a private TikTok account over a public one is that all users who make a follow request must be approved. This can be used to ensure that, for example, only friends can see and like your own videos.

It works like this: Settings → Data protection → “Findability” section: Activate “Private Account” here.

Disable visibility

By default, TikTok shares its own content by recommending it to strangers on the “For You” page. If you don't want that, you have to actively object. The videos from your own account will then no longer be shown to others as recommendations. At the same time, the account can no longer be found via the search engine.

This is how it works: Settings → Data protection → “Findability” section: Deactivate “Suggest your own account to others” here.

Interaction forbidden!

TikTok users can interact with their own account and its content in many ways: view, download, send a direct message and - TikTok's specialty - create videos in parallel. The factory setting for interactions is initially “on”. It can be changed to “Just Friends” or “Off”. Blocking interaction means: no comments, duets and reactions and no one can see which videos you have liked. Plus: no notifications. This point is particularly useful because Messages is a way for TikTok users to chat privately with each other. And that could easily be misused by people with the wrong motives.

Here's how to do it: Settings → Privacy and security → Security: Activate “friends only” or “off” here.

Be careful, TikTok can be addictive

Like all social media platforms, TikTok has a certain addictive nature. On average, users scroll through the small videos for around 52 minutes a day. But the app also has a safety button for this, with which the personal usage time can be set.

's how to do it: Settings → Privacy and Security → Digital Wellbeing → Screen Time Management: Activate any time limit here.

Family safety mode

If the offspring is also a big TikTok fan, various settings can be made using this mode, in which a TikTok account is assigned to an “adult” or “child” and the following settings can be set: Screen time management (how long can the daily use), direct messaging (who can send messages to my child) and restricted mode (what content can my child view).

Here's how to do it: Settings → Data protection and security → Digital Wellbeing → Accompanied mode: Make the appropriate settings here.

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You might also be interested in: Facebook: Frontal attack against TikTok!

Source: Sophos
Article image: Tashatuvango / Shutterstock.com


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