Dr. Casey Fiesler

Oh sure. Just a comment on the rhetoric I’m seeing. And also that in this case trying to solve one of the problems created the other.

I don’t think the folks I’m talking about here trust China. I think they think that Larry Ellison has a much more vested interest in manipulating them than China does.

False Posts and Altered Images Distort Views of Minnesota Shooting

I think this article is important in part because it’s mostly NOT about AI. It’s a combination of things that have contributed to our absolute mess of an information ecosystem right now including people in power outright lying constantly. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/u...

I do think it’s telling that many, many TikTok users are far more concerned about the U.S. government potentially having access to their data and control over their feed than the Chinese government.

I also frankly wonder what the Democrat politicians who voted for the ban think of this outcome.

I have never seen so many people absolutely appropriately quoting 1984 all at once. 😢

FYI if any journalists are doing stories about reactions to TikTok’s ownership change in the U.S. I would love to talk to you about the terms of service component, I think it’s interesting

My post was about a specific provision. But this video also speaks to the location data change, in case this is useful. bsky.app/profile/cfie...

Though importantly as I say in this video I'm NOT suggesting there's nothing to be concerned about.

This post was about one provision. But this video explains that in more detail and speaks to the location data change, in case this is useful. bsky.app/profile/cfie...

And as I say in this video I'm NOT suggesting thee's nothing to be concerned about. But we should be concerned about real things.

More information about requests that we received can be found here 7. While some of the information that we collect, use, and disclose may constitute sensitive personal information under applicable state privacy laws, such as information from users under the relevant age threshold, information you disclose in survey responses or in your User Content about your racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information, we only process such information in order to provide the Platform and within other exemptions under applicable law. For example, we may process your financial information in order to provide you the goods or services you request from us or your driver's license number in order to verify your identity.

Information You Provide may include sensitive personal information, as defined under applicable state privacy laws, such as information from users under the relevant age threshold, information you disclose in survey responses or in your user content about you racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information. For example, we may process your financial information in order to provide you the goods or services you request from us or your driver's license number in order to verify your identity. We may also collect precise locatio data, depending on your settings and as explained below. We process such sensitive personal information in accordance with applicable law, such as for permitted purposes under the California Consumer Privacy Act.

I’ve seen two different posts here about this so: Very valid reasons to be upset about new TikTok ownership! but this is not a list of data they collect, it’s a list of what you may disclose.Was also in the TikTok policy already. It didn’t change. (Right is today, left is from wayback machine.)

Gah! Sorry alt text didn’t save. The relevant bit here is that the list of sensitive data from the original post is identical, and also listed after “information you may disclose.”

There are very valid reasons to be upset about new TikTok ownership! but this is not a list of data they collect, it’s a list of what you may disclose.Was also in the TikTok policy already. It didn’t change. (Right is today, left is from wayback machine.)

Could you tell me about what specifically is concerning? These sites all have such similar policies that I’m not sure what you’re concerned boat. :)

Try a web browser on a computer :) (Or not, this is just in case you ever want to.)

Also just in case this comes up in the future I’m pretty sure you can view TikTok videos from a web browser without being logged into an account!

Replying to @queenofcharts New privacy policy for U.S. TikTok re: location tracking geolocation and sensitive data Ike citizenship and immigration status. (Following up from TimTok terms of service TO... TikTok video by Professor Casey Fiesler

And for what it’s worth, I went into this in more detail: www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8fXoe7f/

I saw this yes! It doesn’t actually mention the component that is in your screenshot.

My apologies if I misstepped here, was just trying to provide accurate and hopefully helpful information. As I said, lots of things to be concerned about, I just want to focus on the right things.

Oh yep I read it today! And also the previous version from the way back machine. That’s how I knew this wasn’t something that changed. :)

Ok! Perhaps the screenshot you provided just wasn’t a good example then.

And for what it's worth, I am also pretty unhappy with the current U.S. government having access to TikTok data. Just making sure that people understand what changes actually happened in these privacy policies.

Perhaps I read your original post incorrectly; it seemed to imply that the privacy policy language was new. Concern over who has access is of course a valid concern, but the language itself isn't really relevant. It's also not a list of what they collect; it's a list of what you might disclose.

While some of the information that we collect, use, and disclose may constitute sensitive personal information under applicable state privacy laws, such as information from users under the relevant age threshold, information you disclose in survey responses or in your User Content about your racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information, we only process such information in order to provide the Platform and within other exemptions under applicable law. For example, we may process your financial information in order to provide you the goods or services you request from us or your driver’s license number in order to verify your identity.

Though there are some things I find troubling in the new privacy policy, this exact language was in the privacy policy that's been in effect since August 2024. Though it's valid to be concerned over *who* has access to this data now, this is not new.

YouTube video by Casey Fiesler PhD Interview Questions | What do PhD supervisors look for in applicants?

You can always tell where we are in the PhD admissions cycle by the spikes in views on my YouTube videos. Anyway, interview season has started! www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t51...

someone could write a dissertation about the comments sections of my videos about soap dispensers and racism in technology design

A friend had the flu and has been in bed and not on screens for four days. I just caught her up on the news and it felt like I was just reading headlines from the Onion.

You might find this helpful! “How they work” isn’t really something you’d see a published research article about, more like something in a textbook. bsky.app/profile/cfie...

ACM Copyright Licenses: Which should you choose, and how do you handle third-party material? Note that this was last updated in 2018, so may not account for changes in this form/process!

Oh also! Here's a slightly updated version of that post, though it also includes my writing about licenses, which... I guess as of two weeks ago is not useful anymore. :) cfiesler.medium.com/acm-copyrigh...

I do think that ACM can officially be very risk averse. But I also think that maybe for ACM they'd (unofficially) just prefer if you (as I assume most people do) lie and say no third party materials rather than claiming fair use and forcing a decision. (This is speculation.)

I just had to share this video with you all because it has almost 300k views on Instagram and almost 1000 comments from people who are VERY VERY MAD to learn about this. But seriously don’t let them dull your ✨sparkle✨