Whatever you think about TikTok’s actions this weekend, there would never have been a ban if the U.S. had a national data privacy law. Marketers, consumers and a fair number of businesses all support it. And, 137 of Earth’s 194 countries already have one.
The TikTok ban is supposed to prevent China from using the app to collect personal data that (to quote The Washington Post) “could be used to blackmail Americans or turn them into spies.” The ban doesn’t prevent China from getting this data elsewhere. Many companies collect this information, including China’s RedNote and Lemon8, owned by TikTok’s parent company.
Heck, there’s a good chance some or all of it is in your CRM. In other words, the Chinese government can still get the data if it wants to.
Right now, marketers must navigate 11 states’ data privacy laws, with six more going into effect by next January. This is an entirely fixable problem. A privacy law introduced in the last Congress had broad bipartisan support but died after being loaded with too many unrelated amendments.
There is no telling what the new Congress will do on this or any other issue. So start calling your representatives now.
While you’re on hold, take a few minutes to share with the community the state and near-term future of your marketing stack in our 2025 State of Your Stack Survey. You can take it anonymously and the Chinese government will never know.
Constantine von Hoffman
Managing Editor
