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Would you say that this is immoral? Since it’s data that’s public anyways, I don’t see why putting it in a table and selling it is a bad thing.

arcfour 14d ago
No, I don't care at all, but I recognize that my morals might be lower than others here. To me it's just public data...whatever. My criticism was basically - this is trying to sell an AI slop project for $699 a pop - I could get this out of a few Claude Code sessions if I had the storage and network bandwidth to run such a scraper. The value proposition is questionable when the writing shows that the entire project was AI generated, and clearly Claude understands the way the TikTok Android app internal API works quite well...
- arvid-lind 14d ago
  The AI giants got where they are by pushing similar limits and setting aside moral (and legal) issues to be settled later in court, so the idea seems to fit the general zeitgeist we're living in. Not really criticism, just an observation.
breezybottom 14d ago
What is "public" data? It admits to violating the ToS.
- arcfour 14d ago
  Something posted with the understanding that it could potentially be viewed by anyone on the Internet with minimal/no restriction. ToS are just what you follow if you don't want to get banned off of the site. If you don't care about that, then you can go hog wild, though you're being a bit of a jerk/not playing nice obviously.
  - breezybottom 14d ago
    Any company could potentially be hacked, so by that standard all data is public. And no, the ToS is legally binding on the company as well.
    - arcfour 14d ago
      That's a blatant strawman - that's not a reasonable position at all. A reasonable person does not expect their private medical records to be accessible to you or me just because they are stored in an EHR system. They might be surprised that you or I looked at their TikTok video when we aren't the intended audience, but they still posted it publicly, with the understanding that it would be made freely available to others.
      - breezybottom 14d ago
        It's definitely not a strawman. Perhaps you meant that it's a false equivalency, but I don't think that's true either. With how common data hacks are, why wouldn't a reasonable person expect their medical records to leak? I received at least two such breach notices just last year.
        arcfour 13d ago
        Obviously I meant that any data a person expects to be public, like a public post on a social media site... I was not referring to data exposed in data breaches, which is a different subject entirely... If that was not obvious to you then I apologize; though it really should have been, since you are encouraged to interact with others in good faith on HN. And if you expect your medical records to be public...then what is the point of this discussion?
        breezybottom 13d ago
        The user only gave TikTok permission to use the videos according to the ToS. And considering the majority of TikTok users are children, I think it's hard to justify morally, even if you could make a legal case.
- echoangle 13d ago
  I could get the same data in principle by downloading the app and accessing the post. There’s no hacking or circumventing access controls. That’s what I meant by public data.
kenniskrag 13d ago
Because a lot of things is public online and can't be copied and sold e.g. due to copyright, patents and trademark. Also if you access a website you are bound to a ToS contract and this is a breach of that contract.
- echoangle 13d ago
  Breaching a contract isn’t a crime though, it’s a civil matter.
  - AlecSchueler 13d ago
    You asked if it was immoral, not if it was a crime.
  - deleted 12d ago
    [deleted]

arcfour 14d ago

No, I don't care at all, but I recognize that my morals might be lower than others here. To me it's just public data...whatever. My criticism was basically - this is trying to sell an AI slop project for $699 a pop - I could get this out of a few Claude Code sessions if I had the storage and network bandwidth to run such a scraper. The value proposition is questionable when the writing shows that the entire project was AI generated, and clearly Claude understands the way the TikTok Android app internal API works quite well...

arvid-lind 14d ago
The AI giants got where they are by pushing similar limits and setting aside moral (and legal) issues to be settled later in court, so the idea seems to fit the general zeitgeist we're living in. Not really criticism, just an observation.

breezybottom 14d ago

What is "public" data? It admits to violating the ToS.

arcfour 14d ago
Something posted with the understanding that it could potentially be viewed by anyone on the Internet with minimal/no restriction. ToS are just what you follow if you don't want to get banned off of the site. If you don't care about that, then you can go hog wild, though you're being a bit of a jerk/not playing nice obviously.
- breezybottom 14d ago
  Any company could potentially be hacked, so by that standard all data is public. And no, the ToS is legally binding on the company as well.
  - arcfour 14d ago
    That's a blatant strawman - that's not a reasonable position at all. A reasonable person does not expect their private medical records to be accessible to you or me just because they are stored in an EHR system. They might be surprised that you or I looked at their TikTok video when we aren't the intended audience, but they still posted it publicly, with the understanding that it would be made freely available to others.
    - breezybottom 14d ago
      It's definitely not a strawman. Perhaps you meant that it's a false equivalency, but I don't think that's true either. With how common data hacks are, why wouldn't a reasonable person expect their medical records to leak? I received at least two such breach notices just last year.
      - arcfour 13d ago
        Obviously I meant that any data a person expects to be public, like a public post on a social media site... I was not referring to data exposed in data breaches, which is a different subject entirely... If that was not obvious to you then I apologize; though it really should have been, since you are encouraged to interact with others in good faith on HN. And if you expect your medical records to be public...then what is the point of this discussion?
        breezybottom 13d ago
        The user only gave TikTok permission to use the videos according to the ToS. And considering the majority of TikTok users are children, I think it's hard to justify morally, even if you could make a legal case.
echoangle 13d ago
I could get the same data in principle by downloading the app and accessing the post. There’s no hacking or circumventing access controls. That’s what I meant by public data.

kenniskrag 13d ago

Because a lot of things is public online and can't be copied and sold e.g. due to copyright, patents and trademark. Also if you access a website you are bound to a ToS contract and this is a breach of that contract.

echoangle 13d ago
Breaching a contract isn’t a crime though, it’s a civil matter.
- AlecSchueler 13d ago
  You asked if it was immoral, not if it was a crime.
- deleted 12d ago
  [deleted]