‘Money is what’s on the line’: Local cybersecurity expert weighs in on possible TikTok ban

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The Supreme Court heard from attorneys arguing both for and against the pending U.S. ban on TikTok on Friday.

Lawyers for the platform framed it as a case of free speech, but federal attorneys say the site poses a risk to national security.

The fear is that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, could be pressured by the Chinese government to control content and hand over user data.

With all the fear over TikTok shutting down on January 19th and the threat of Chinese spying warranted, KRDO13 heard from a national cybersecurity expert.

Rodney Gullatte Jr. says the way Chinese officials are taking information from TikTok, is no different than any other American-owned social media platform.

He says the bigger issue lies with who's profiting off of you, "Your personal information is being harvested in real time, right now. While you're watching this news feed, your phone is listening and sharing that information with Facebook, with TikTok, with all of it."

Gullatte Jr. says the debate to ban the social media platform stems from one issue, "Because it's Chinese owned...There is an argument for the freedom of speech and also national security and ownership of that platform and the algorithms that are being employed by TikTok to harvest your data, collect information on you. It absolutely is doing that."

For the 170 million consumers using the app, he says changing TikTok will not bring better protections, "It won't be in Chinese hands anymore, but it won't be any safer because they'll still be using that information against you. You are what's for sale and you're not making billions of dollars with the information you are freely giving to these systems to track you, to monitor you and profile you."

Gullatte Jr. adds that with any social media app, the sharing of your information begins with the click of a button that most don't bother to read: terms and conditions.

Now, the decision to shut down TikTok sits in the hands of the Supreme Court justices unless the app's Chinese-based parent company agrees to sell to an American buyer.

It typically takes the Supreme Court about three months to issue a decision on an argument, but with the January 19th deadline rapidly approaching, justices will likely issue a ruling on TikTok as soon as next week.