When people think of a “data breach,” their natural reaction is to worry about losing information, such as passwords. However, Jason Miller, founder of the social media app Gettr, says that much more is at risk.
“What it’s about is they’re going to know more about your mental makeup than you do, and that’s scary,” he told The Epoch Times on Oct. 1.
Apps backed by the Chinese state, such as TikTok—which is targeting the prized Gen Z and Alpha cohorts—aren’t just collecting data from their users but also giving Beijing the full ability to psychologically profile the users who will be our next generation of leaders, according to Miller.
The former Trump administration adviser was in Sydney for CPAC Australia—the Conservative Political Action Conference.
He said China-based companies, and, by default, the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), now have access to all user information, including credit card details and passwords, from apps such as TikTok and, at the same time, will be conducting “psychographic analysis of an entire generation of people.”
“So, let’s say my oldest daughter is 13, and they start tracking her when she starts an account. A decade later, she’s going through college, they then have a decade of psychographic analysis data on someone they know,” Miller said.
He said this data will give the CCP insight into what younger generations in other countries think about issues such as Taiwan or when “the next virus gets launched.”
“They will know what’s going to move public opinion in very short order,” Miller said. “Fast forward another 10 or 20 years, and say my daughter runs for office. Imagine the manipulative ability for them to have the psychographic analyses of an entire generation of political leaders and voters, not just in the United States but around the world.
China’s Big Tech and the CCP’s Ambitions
Questions have long lingered over how China’s state-backed technology companies use the data they collect. Some of the most well-known tech brands in the world are based in China, including TikTok (ByteDance), Huawei, HikVision, WeChat (Tencent), and the world’s largest drone maker, DJI.China-based companies are subject to a bevy of laws under the CCP that compel cooperation upon demand by the regime.
Notably, the 2017 National Intelligence Law forces China-based companies to share data with the CCP if ordered to do so, and its military—civil fusion doctrine means that technologies developed in the civilian sector can be repurposed for the regime’s People’s Liberation Army.
In response, Arthur Herman, a senior fellow at the conservative think tank Hudson Institute, has warned U.S. leaders to stay ahead of the curve to maintain the technological edge over Beijing.
