29
submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/6214098

I want to follow some people on tiktok, for the content they put out. I am, however, a somewhat privacy-minded person. Any suggestion on how to make TikTok less privacy-invasive? Some DNS app?

I am on Android, not rooted.

all 14 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] [email protected] 87 points 9 months ago
  1. Tiktok
  2. Privacy

You can choose only one

[-] [email protected] 55 points 9 months ago

Don't install an app you don't trust. There's no private way to do it.

TikTok lets you view people via the web browser, just bookmark them, and check up on them periodically. I don't know if you could get an RSS feed for them, might be possible.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago

I saw this project https://github.com/pablouser1/ProxiTok
Haven't been able to selfhost it (not sure what I'm doing wrong yet), but the public instances are working fine.

[-] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Also it looks like you can get an RSS feed

https://rss.app/blog/how-to-create-tiktok-rss-feeds-VEdZNt

So to the original posters question, there's no need to install the app, just an RSS reader.

I just checked, TikTok has a progressive web app! You can just install the progressive web app, and keep all of the privacy provisions of your browser. So I think that's the good middle ground here

[-] [email protected] 31 points 9 months ago

Blocked at the firewall at my place.

Just don’t. If you want TikTok content then look for YouTube compilations or reposts (do shorts work on Piped?)

TikTok is one of the most privacy-invasive apps ever created, and that’s before even considering the data they get from watching what videos you watch/like. They harvest literally everything they can from your phone.

I guess if you run it in a VM on an Android emulator with a VPN and strict vlan/firewall rules using an email address you created specifically for it, but even then it doesn’t seem worth it.

[-] [email protected] 21 points 9 months ago

I use ProxiTok to view tiktoks

[-] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago

Yeah good luck with that. Personally, no content is worth that trade off to me.

[-] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago

I mean just use YT shorts, 99% of TikTok creators post on YouTube anyways because you get paid way more.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

I'd recommend the Revanced version (is a fork that removed ads and blatant trackers). But it doesn't stop Tik Tok from tracking what you see. For example, Facebook, technically it doesn't have third party tracker, because the app itself is a tracker.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

Use a private DNS and patch the app with revanced. Don't use your primary email or phone and never give it permission to access your contacts.

That's only if you really want to install it.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

I don't know if this is dumb or not but I have it installed on an old phone with nothing else installed on it and just use it on the home WiFi sometimes.

Another plus being that I have to intentionally get the phone and intentionally turn it on to use the awful-but-intriguing-app.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Use insular to install it on your work profile

[-] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Shelter + Shizuku + App Ops

Shelter will put it in a work profile.

Shizuku and App Ops work together to give you more control over app permissions. You can restrict a lot this way.

Granted, that won't stop the normal data collection via your IP address that occurs as a result of browsing their content.

this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
29 points (96.8% liked)

Privacy Guides

16167 readers
189 users here now

In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.


You can subscribe to this community from any Kbin or Lemmy instance:

Learn more...


Check out our website at privacyguides.org before asking your questions here. We've tried answering the common questions and recommendations there!

Want to get involved? The website is open-source on GitHub, and your help would be appreciated!


This community is the "official" Privacy Guides community on Lemmy, which can be verified here. Other "Privacy Guides" communities on other Lemmy servers are not moderated by this team or associated with the website.


Moderation Rules:

  1. We prefer posting about open-source software whenever possible.
  2. This is not the place for self-promotion if you are not listed on privacyguides.org. If you want to be listed, make a suggestion on our forum first.
  3. No soliciting engagement: Don't ask for upvotes, follows, etc.
  4. Surveys, Fundraising, and Petitions must be pre-approved by the mod team.
  5. Be civil, no violence, hate speech. Assume people here are posting in good faith.
  6. Don't repost topics which have already been covered here.
  7. News posts must be related to privacy and security, and your post title must match the article headline exactly. Do not editorialize titles, you can post your opinions in the post body or a comment.
  8. Memes/images/video posts that could be summarized as text explanations should not be posted. Infographics and conference talks from reputable sources are acceptable.
  9. No help vampires: This is not a tech support subreddit, don't abuse our community's willingness to help. Questions related to privacy, security or privacy/security related software and their configurations are acceptable.
  10. No misinformation: Extraordinary claims must be matched with evidence.
  11. Do not post about VPNs or cryptocurrencies which are not listed on privacyguides.org. See Rule 2 for info on adding new recommendations to the website.
  12. General guides or software lists are not permitted. Original sources and research about specific topics are allowed as long as they are high quality and factual. We are not providing a platform for poorly-vetted, out-of-date or conflicting recommendations.

Additional Resources:

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS