YouTube and TikTok lead user data tracking pack

YouTube and TikTok Lead User Data Tracking Pack

A recent study by a mobile marketing company has revealed that YouTube and TikTok are tracking users' personal data more than any other social media apps. These platforms track not only your online search history but also your location to serve you relevant ads. However, it's often unclear what happens to the data collected by third-party trackers.

To help understand what this means and how users can protect their privacy, experts like Junaid Glen Schmidt, an AI and advanced analytics specialist at Ultron Systems Integration, provide insights.

What Are YouTube and TikTok Doing With Your Data?

Junaid explains that social media giants have been collecting customer data for years. They build customer profiles using your location data and even the contacts on your mobile device to better personalize content and ads. This personalization can range from mildly targeted to hyper-personalized advertising.

On the surface, this might not seem problematic – more relevant ads could be seen as beneficial. However, the issue lies in the opaque nature of the algorithms these companies use. These AI-based algorithms can make various determinations about users, sometimes in invasive ways. For example, certain algorithms can infer sexual orientation from images despite having no biological or genealogical basis for doing so.

Junaid also mentions a concerning practice of TikTok where content is downgraded if the platform perceives the creator to be disabled, unattractive, or poor. This bias, based on subjective and potentially harmful criteria, is troubling, given users have little insight into how these decisions are made.

The Cost of Free Services

We've often been told that "if you're not paying for it, you are the product." This is absolutely true in this context. Free services often monetize your data, selling it to data exchanges whether it is anonymized or not. So using free Wi-Fi at a mall could mean you're also handing over valuable personal information.

In some regions like South Africa, legislation like the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) provides recourse for consumers. Users can request to see and even delete the data companies hold about them. Though useful, this legislation presents just one piece of the broader puzzle of user data protection.

Global Accountability

Ensuring that global tech giants are accountable is an ongoing challenge. Facebook, for example, was sued in 2020 for using AI facial recognition to monitor users' emotions as they scrolled through Instagram. Facebook also patented technology to infer your emotions based on your typing style, showcasing the extent to which platforms can go to analyze user behavior. These cases highlight the need for continuous and evolving regulations.

Conclusion

Understanding and addressing privacy concerns around social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok requires more than just user vigilance. Comprehensive, updated regulations and informed user actions are necessary to counteract the often opaque practices of these tech giants.

Keywords

YouTube
TikTok
User Data
AI Algorithms
Personalization
Customer Profiles
Privacy
Facial Recognition
POPIA
Regulations

FAQ

What personal data do YouTube and TikTok track?

They track online search history, location, and even your contacts to personalize ads and content.

Why is personalized advertising potentially dangerous?

The algorithms making these decisions are opaque and can make invasive inferences about users without clear reasons or user consent.

Can I see what data companies have about me?

Yes, in some regions like South Africa, you can request to see and even delete data companies collect about you, under legislation like POPIA.

What are these companies doing with my data?

They build detailed customer profiles to personalize advertising. Some data is also sold to third-party data exchanges.

How can social media users protect their privacy?

Users can request data disclosures, delete unwanted data, and be cautious about using free services that collect data. Legislative measures like POPIA also provide some recourse.