On Jan. 19, phones around the United States were thrown across rooms and hit against tables as TikTok users were completely denied access to the popular short-form video content app. Two days earlier, the United States Supreme Court unanimously upheld a ban on the app’s use within our national borders due to data privacy concerns. Today, TikTok is seemingly accessible because of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. The issued order instructs the Justice Department to delay the enforcement of the TikTok ban for at least 75 days. While still active throughout the country, TikTok is no longer downloadable from the Apple or Android App Stores.
Since the ban, the question of data privacy has become increasingly relevant to the lives of U.S. citizens. The concept of a federal TikTok ban was, for a time, promoted as a matter of national security by both the Biden and Trump administrations—politicians across the political spectrum argued that TikTok is nonconsensually accessing our data and potentially using it for nefarious purposes. The concern is not new—congressmen from both the Democratic and Republican parties questioned the CEO of TikTok for hours in March of 2023. Yet today, the response from both experts and ordinary citizens has been mixed, with many people arguing that this ban will do nothing for our security or privacy.
The Harvard Independent interviewed the Chief Technology Officer of Harvard University, Jim Waldo, and Harvard’s “Datamatch hacker” Sungjoo Yoon ’27, to learn how students at Harvard should be thinking about their own online privacy amid the TikTok ban.
To Waldo, TikTok poses no unique privacy risk just because it’s collecting data from its users. “It’s all personal data that [TikTok] users are volunteering… Almost all of the information about demographic and location and those sorts of things could be obtained from standard online data aggregators in a much more convenient form.” He proposes we ask different questions—the focus should be not on what data is being collected, but on why it is being collected. “It’s really not data that is the invasion of privacy. It’s how the data is used.”
According to Yoon, when deciding whether to allow an app access to your information, you should pay close attention to the company’s privacy policies—how your information will be stored and used. “Every time the app asks you to share more information, just say no,” Yoon recommends. Even when using the internet, he says it’s essential to “be conscientious of the tools that you’re using…and [to] try to use the ones that are lauded for being more security-focused.”
Still, as Waldo claims, there’s not much you can do when it comes to the government accessing your data because “most privacy policies cannot stand up to a subpoena.” Waldo advises, “If you’re worried about the government using this information, then you just shouldn’t share it with anybody.”
Yet, even if you do not think the government will be subpoenaing your Finsta account from middle school, as Yoon explains, it could still be crucial for you to be hyper-conscious about the information you are putting online. “If you feel like you are going to be someone that is important, or you feel like you have the potential to be someone that’s important, it’s really, really important to have a handle on your data.” The aspiration to be an “important” person, of course, applies to many Harvard students.
Yet outside of posting drunk selfies or other incriminating and easily accessible content, Waldo does not believe you necessarily have to be immensely concerned about using apps that are collecting demographic or personal information. “The largest misconception is that you’re interesting enough for these companies to actually want to have a detailed dossier on you. What they have is a very broad notion of who you are, which may or may not be particularly accurate,” Waldo explained. In fact, “thinking that somebody’s going to figure out that you held subversive beliefs because of combing through all of your posts on Instagram at some point [is] probably not that big a deal.”
At the end of the day, Waldo advises us to decide our own trade-offs around our data privacy and protection. The action items are very clear to him. “If you’re worried about applications tracking all of your activity on the application, don’t use the application. If you’re worried about how they use your data, read the privacy policy.” The enforcement of a national ban ensures that, regardless of users’ personal choices, TikTok can no longer use or collect data from U.S. citizens. Yet with millions of apps and websites at the tip of your fingers, all asking to collect your information, Waldo argues that the primary role of protecting your data still falls to you.
To help us navigate this intimidating responsibility, Harvard offers plenty of resources. There are classes you can take to become more informed, like Waldo’s course CS105: Privacy and Technology. Harvard pays for us to have access to a VPN and a specialized version of ChatGPT that ensures your queries won’t be used to train OpenAI’s models. But if you’re worried that Harvard can use your queries to catch you breaking your class’s GenAI policy, Waldo encourages you to read the privacy policy which says Harvard won’t look at your use of the model. “If you think that the Harvard version of ChatGPT is more dangerous than just using the regular version of ChatGPT, you’re not paying attention,” says Waldo.
Choosing what version of the model to use or really any app comes down to how much you trust each company with your information. That’s a personal decision that should be an informed decision. If people are using OpenAI’s model instead of Harvard’s, the implication is that “people trust OpenAI more than they trust Harvard.” Waldo’s response? “They should re-examine their life choices.”
When it comes to trusting TikTok, students and government officials alike are still debating whether the company is “responsible” with our data or not. Some Harvard students have responded to the national ban by choosing to accept the privacy policies of even less U.S.-regulated social media companies, like RedNote. Others have taken the chance to permanently delete TikTok from their phones and examine their privacy choices more closely. This national ban serves as an opportunity to examine your online presence and become more informed about the privacy trade-offs you’re making every day. In the end, online privacy is not just a policy debate—it’s a personal responsibility.
Mia Tavares ’27 (miatavares@college.harvard.edu) has never downloaded TikTok or made an account (despite being the Independent’s Video Director for a year).