Chinese app RedNote could pose greater security risks than TikTok
As uncertainty hovers around the TikTok ban that could go into effect in the U.S. on Sunday, users are flocking to a Chinese app called RedNote.
As uncertainty hovers around the TikTok ban that could go into effect in the U.S. on Sunday, users are flocking to a Chinese app called RedNote. The app allows users to upload short-form videos and post photos like on TikTok, but technology experts and government insiders worry that RedNote poses more of a threat to security and privacy than TikTok does — the primary reason for the potential ban.
“I’m concerned that Americans are flocking to a number of adversary-owned social media platforms,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., posted Tuesday on social media platform Bluesky. “We still need a comprehensive and risk-based approach to assessing and mitigating the risks of foreign-owned apps.”
Warner didn’t receive warm responses from commenters. Many Americans, both TikTok users and otherwise, have expressed outrage over the legislation that forces TikTok to either sell to a non-Chinese owner or be removed from app stores. On Thursday, two officials from President Joe Biden’s administration told NBC News that it would not enforce the ban on Sunday, the last full day of Biden’s presidency and the day the ban is supposed to go into effect. But it’s still unclear what TikTok’s future holds.
Meanwhile, as Americans settle into using RedNote, with some saying they’re attempting to learn Mandarin to speak with Chinese locals, experts say the app poses risks. Cooper Quintin, senior staff technologist at the nonprofit digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the organization “strongly recommends” against using RedNote for people whose privacy is a matter of personal safety. Quintin is conducting a study of the app’s security risks.
Angela Zhang, a professor of law at the University of Southern California who specializes in the study of Chinese tech regulation, explained that RedNote is more vulnerable to the potential for Chinese government data collection than TikTok is.
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