Verifying What a TikTok Ban Means for You
Gus Hurwitz, director of law and economics programs at ICLE, offered perspective in Verify This on the implications of a TikTok ban in the U.S. Read the full article here.
If the TikTok ban goes into effect, web hosting companies will also be barred from hosting the website from an internet browser, according to the law. But many people on social media claim U.S. TikTok users could use a VPN, or a virtual private network, that allows users to mask their location to access it online.
A VPN encrypts your traffic data and then routes it through private tunnels to secure servers around the world, which prevents anyone else from being able to read it. However, if large droves of users do that, it’s possible that tech companies, such as Apple or Google, could recognize it as a legal liability and find other ways to clamp down on the app.
TikTok users with Android devices might also be able to continue to update their apps through third-party app stores, a method called sideloading. But bypassing the security protocols that well-known app stores have in place might also leave users more vulnerable to malware, according to Gus Hurwitz, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania with expertise in telecommunications and technology.