WARNING: TikTok STEALING The Genetic Data Of Americans?

U.S. intelligence officials are reportedly very concerned about a new partnership between TikTok’s parent company ByteDance and a company called G42.

G42 is a conglomerate of companies including AI start-ups and gene sequencing companies that do business with China.

The intelligence community is concerned that ByteDance could potentially hand over sensitive genetic data to G42 and that G42 will inevitably hand it over to China.

TikTok and ByteDance have long been accused of being surrogates for the Chinese Communist Party and sharing the user data of Americans with the Chinese government.

Why would China want the genetic data of Americans? Potentially to create ethnic bioweapons, biological weapons of war that target specific racial and genetic characteristics. Here’s more on the story:

NEW: US Intel Worries TikTok-Connected Tech Firm Could Steal Americans’ Genetic Data https://t.co/J5cKDRtMgj

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 28, 2023

The data allegedly processed by TikTok includes ethnic and racial origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, trade union membership, genetic and biometric data or health data. #dataprivacy #DataSecurity #dataprocessing #TikTok https://t.co/9yWbMWpFHS

— Ioan Munteanu (@MunteanuIoan13) September 29, 2022

Last year, The Guardian reported:

The ICO also said TikTok may have processed special category data – which includes ethnic and racial origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, trade union membership and genetic, biometric or health data – without legal grounds to do so.

The information commissioner, John Edwards, said: “We all want children to be able to learn and experience the digital world, but with proper data privacy protections.

Some users sounded the alarm on recent job postings from ByteDance opening up applications for a drug discovery science intern and a molecular scientist.

SERIOUSLY?? ByteDance (TikTok parent) is hiring genetic analysts! No data snooping here, folks. It's just China. Move along. #BeLikeLight

I'm SURE they wouldn't feed your DNA test results to a Chinese GPT. Nothing to worry about. https://t.co/mnnZJmKa97

— Dave deBronkart (@ePatientDave) October 6, 2023

The Verge featured yet another report detailing a hefty fine levied against TikTok by Irish authorities:

Today, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced a €345 million (around $367 million) fine on TikTok for how the company processes the data of children.

The fine follows an investigation by the DPC announced in 2021 that looked at TikTok’s compliance with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws. Politico reported in August that the DPC was preparing to issue its penalty.