Allegations of Unauthorized Data Collection by ByteDance: A Potential Breach of Trustworthy AI

January 15, 2017

ByteDance is under scrutiny for allegedly scraping content, including videos, usernames, profile pictures, and descriptions, from Instagram, Snapchat, and other sources without consent. This data was reportedly used to enhance the 'For You' algorithm on Flipagram (predecessor of TikTok), raising concerns about safe and secure AI practices. This AI incident maps to the Govern function in HISPI Project Cerebellum Trusted AI Model (TAIM). Ready to help shape responsible AI? JOIN US
Alleged deployer
bytedance
Alleged developer
bytedance
Alleged harmed parties
instagram-users, snapchat-users, american-social-media-users

Source

Data from the AI Incident Database (AIID). Cite this incident: https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/190

Data source

Incident data is from the AI Incident Database (AIID).

When citing the database as a whole, please use:

McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21). Virtual Conference.

Pre-print on arXiv · Database snapshots & citation guide

We use weekly snapshots of the AIID for stable reference. For the official suggested citation of a specific incident, use the “Cite this incident” link on each incident page.