UF discourages TikTok use for students, faculty due to concerns – Gainesville Sun

Following the bandwagon of other universities, the University of Florida is now discouraging the use of the social media platform TikTok. 
On Jan. 12, UF students received an email from UF’s vice president and chief information officer, Elias G. Eldayrie, about the security risk TikTok poses and that it has been monitoring developments with the social media app, as first reported by WUFT.
UF isn’t alone.
According to BestColleges, a college pathway site, universities in the states of Alabama, Idaho, Oklahoma and Texas have already banned the app on university-owned devices.  So far, 23 states have also taken action in banning TikTok, UF’s letter states.
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Isabelle Rodriguez, a senior studying Biology, said she was shocked when she read the email from UF about discouraging TikTok use and was concerned about free speech.
“Especially with the political climate right now with the new president, it just seems they’re just trying to take away so much from us,” the 22-year-old student said. “It’s just a creative outlet for so many of us that are so stressed with school and have so many responsibilities and like them, just like discouraging it. It’s just kind of like disheartening.”
Despite UF requesting for students not to use the app, Rodriguez she’s still going to continue to scroll.
The letter goes onto to say that experts have highlighted the app as a national security concern, claiming that foreign governments may use the social media app to “control data collection, influence TikTok’s recommendation algorithm and compromise personal devices.” 
It also states that “in addition the TikTok, U.S. privacy policy indicates they may use ‘biometric identifiers and biometric information … such as faceprints and voiceprints from your user content.’”
“As the university considers additional future steps, we strongly recommend that everyone discontinue using TikTok and remove the app from their devices. Taking this action will help protect your personal information as well as university data,” Eldayrie wrote. 
Jennifer Zuckerberg, a first-year psychology major, said she isn’t surprised about UF discouraging the app. She said she and her family have been having discussions around the controversy since last year. Her family fears that collection of the data could do harm to people.
“I see the perspective where UF is coming from because something really can go wrong,” Zuckerberg said. “I think UF is trying to keep their students safe.”
UF uses Fast Path Solutions to monitor high-risk software and technologies considered high risk, which may soon add TikTok to its list.
UF spokeswoman Cynthia Roldan told the Gainesville Sun Friday that UF has already suspended its TikTok account.
Bans on the social media platform TikTok have been occurring since December of last year after the U.S. Senate made the decision to ban the use of the social media platform on all government devices.
There is a fear among top U.S. officials that the Chinese government could gain access to information to the app and use it to spread misinformation, according to a USA Today article.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. There was concern amongst the FBI that Chinese officials could use the app’s algorithm to view user’s personal data. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner called it “an enormous threat.”
UF stated that former U.S. Sen. and incoming President Ben Sasse had no part in the decision, nor was he a part of the discussion to discourage TikTok on UF.
Sasse, however, is self-proclaimed “China hawk,” has previously criticized the social media app and the communist party.
“When it comes to the Chinese Communist Party, data security is as fake as Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy,” Sasse said on his Senate website. “Chinese apps collect massive amounts of data and by law, the Chinese Communist Party can access that data whenever it wants. This is how surveillance-state techno-authoritarianism works and why it’s critical we decouple ByteDance’s ownership and control over TikTok operations here in the US. The United States — both public and private sectors — have to start taking this seriously.”
Gershon Harrell is an education reporter at The Gainesville Sun. He can be reached by phone at (352)338-3166, by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @GershonReports.

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