美国国家公共电台 NPR--Can TikTok be trusted with users' data?

Can TikTok be trusted with users' data?

Transcript²

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to FCC Commissioner³ Brendan Carr, who is urging Google and Apple to remove the TikTok app from their digital stores, citing security concerns.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Millions of Americans watch videos on TikTok. But some federal officials and security experts have been worried for years about how the app's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, handles personal data. Now TikTok is facing new scrutiny⁴ from the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is urging Google and Apple to remove TikTok from their digital stores. Commissioner Carr joins us now. Thank you so much for being on the show.

BRENDAN CARR: Great to be with you. Thank you.

MARTIN: You say it's time for Americans to delete TikTok. This has something to do with privacy. Explain why you think that this particular app is so dangerous.

CARR: Yeah. A lot of people look at it. And they say, well, it's just an app for sharing funny videos or memes. And the reality is, that's just the sheep's clothing. If you look in terms of the actual data that this app is pulling, it's really sweeping⁵. It's looking at everything from search and browsing⁶ history, your keystroke patterns, biometric data, including face print and voice print - the face print stuff being things that could be used in facial recognition down the road - draft messages. And while we were told by TikTok that all this data is stored in the U.S., there are some new reports just the last few weeks that showed that a tremendous amount of this data is being accessed by engineers in Beijing who work for a company, ByteDance, that is beholden to the CCP. And so I think that's really disturbing. It's a national security threat, in my view. But short of that, it looks to me that it's a violation⁷ of the app store policies of Google and Apple. And that's why I wrote them saying they should enforce their policies and boot the app from the app store on that basis.

MARTIN: OK. So let's back up a second. You referenced this revelation that TikTok employees in China were accessing American users' personal information. TikTok then said that it moved Americans' data to servers based, through Oracle⁸, in the U.S. Why do you think that's still insufficient⁹? What's your evidence that that's not working?

CARR: Yes, that's a good question. Two things - one, up to now, they've been maintaining basically the same thing. They say all of the data is stored in the U.S. To your point, they're saying they're now moving it to an Oracle base infrastructure¹⁰ in the U.S. But they've been representing for a long time that it's stored in the U.S. The question is, where is it accessed? And even though they're switching to Oracle, U.S.-based, cloud-based services, it's still going to be accessed in Beijing. In fact, they came out and said that, well, of course, some of the data is accessed there. But it's only on an as-needed basis. And the definition of as needed when it comes to entities¹¹ beholden to the CCP is very, very different than, I think, what you or I would conceive of in terms of as needed. So that's the concern there. Also, again, with the representation that it's stored here - these leaked audios from internal TikTok meetings show people saying, quote, "everything is seen in China," end quote.

MARTIN: And this was a BuzzFeed report from earlier this month, we should say. So you know, we need to point out, you're the sole FCC commissioner who signed this letter calling on Google and Apple to take TikTok from their app stores. Where are your fellow commissioners¹² on this?

CARR: You know, I've just started talking to one or two of them. And so we'll see where they come down. This isn't the type of thing that is in our core, you know, direct regulatory jurisdiction¹³. So for instance, we've taken action on Huawei and ZTE. We've taken action on China Mobile and China Telecom, looking at their licenses¹⁵. Those are entities that are directly licensed¹⁶ by the FCC or get funding from the FCC. So our core regulatory authority there is very clear.

For me, this is more taking a look at our expertise¹⁷ that we're developing - or I'm developing with respect to influence from entities beholden to the CCP in our communication system generally. And so that's why my letter to them is not about an FCC rule or license¹⁴. It's about their app store policies because if you look, they've enforced those policies before on companies that have surreptitiously taken data and moved it to China. They've done it against companies that are engaging in unauthorized uses and practices of data. So my question is, basically, put the national security stuff to the side, which I think we should be looking at. But just apply your app store policies on its terms. And it looks to me that that's enough to move them out of the app store.

MARTIN: Although, is that within your writ¹⁸? I mean, the FCC doesn't regulate app stores.

CARR: Yeah. It's not necessarily in terms of a license that we would revoke¹⁹ or a regulation in that sense. It is in the sense that it has to do with our expertise that we've developed with influence campaigns from entities that are beholden to CCP. But at the end of the day, you know, I'm just one shoe to drop of others. The Biden administration itself is taking a look at this app, along with other apps, as part of a broader review of foreign influence that's taking place in Commerce Department. In Congress, there's bipartisan interest. Senator Schumer and Senator Cotton joined a letter looking at this. Adam Schiff, Ted¹ Cruz, Marsha Blackburn, so...

MARTIN: Lots of interest, clearly. I just want to ask very quickly, have you heard from Google and Apple?

CARR: I've not heard back yet. I've asked them to respond by July 8 and tell me either, A, yeah, we agree. We're going to remove it from the app store. Or, two, we're not going to. And we don't think it's a violation of our policies, and here's why we don't. And I look forward to hearing from them on that.

MARTIN: Brendan Carr is a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission. Thanks for your time.

CARR: Appreciate it. Thank you.

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

4 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

5 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

6 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

8 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

9 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

10 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

11 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

12 commissioners   

n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官

参考例句：

• The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

13 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

14 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

15 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

16 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

17 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

18 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

19 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。