April 16, 2024
TicTac Policy Providing Biometric Collection Concerns US Senators Applications and Software

TicTac Policy Providing Biometric Collection Concerns US Senators Applications and Software

In a recent change in its privacy policy, Dictac revealed that it plans to record biometric data from its users, but this has caused great concern among US lawmakers. Although the Chinese social network wants to automatically collect facial and voice information, officials want to know what it is used for and with whom it is shared.

TickTalk App (Image: Cottonpro / Bexels)
TickTalk App (Image: Cottonpro / Bexels)

Earlier this August, Republican Senators John Tunn and Democrat Amy Globuchar Sent a letter to Dictok’s CEOG. G. In it, politicians say they are “intimidated” by a recent change in the privacy policy of the social network, which will allow the app to “automatically collect biometric data, including certain physical and behavioral characteristics of video content published by its users”. Described in the letter.

TickTalk will automatically collect “facial and voice” data

The debate began in June, and Dickdock began to ask about the matter. At the time, Chinese application Byte Dance claimed to obtain “all necessary permissions” within the laws to collect “facial and voice prints”. As discovered Tech Crunch.

However, both the response from the social network and the change in privacy policy have left senators with persistent relevant doubts that plague them. For example, it was never specified whether Dictac complies with U.S. federal, state, or two biometric privacy laws. In this case, only a few US states have laws such as California, Texas, Washington and New York.

As Dictak is not yet explicit on this issue, senators Globuschar and Tunn wrote in a letter asking the social network to explain the changes in detail. They want to know exactly what “face mark” and “voice mark” are, how this data will be used, how long it will be retained, and with whom it will be shared.

Juveniles develop more anxiety

Also, there is extra concern when it comes to minors. Therefore, the letter also asks Dictoc to clarify how this policy works for those under 18 years of age. Among other questions, the social network must answer whether this collection of biometric data will affect its services in any way and publish a list of third parties who can access this information.

The senators’ letter highlights a significant increase in social networking activity during corona virus outbreaks, which “increased the need to protect consumer privacy.” This document further clarifies the concerns of children and adolescents, who are “more than 32% of Dictok’s active users”. The video site became the answer to the questions of the US government. Is up to 25.

With information: Tech Crunch