Thank you for being wonderful patients, and families. At Comizio Orthodontics, while we work to ensure healthy and beautiful smiles, we also share the interest and concern of the well-being of our patients & families, both online & offline. We would like you to be aware of concerns about the latest news regarding TikTok, a popular video app that children or your family members may use.

TikTok is a video app that allows users to post videos between 15 & 60 seconds long. TikTok has been downloaded 110 million times in the United States, and is especially popular among youth.

On January 4th, 2020, the United States Department of Defense issued a warning through the Pentagon to block access to the TikTok app for military personnel in all military branches, due to potential national security risks involved with the app.

For individuals, if you or your family members use TikTok, the app tracks your personal information. That data can be used to determine where you live, who you live with, where you work, how long you stay at that location, what time you come home, how many floors are in your house, when you go to sleep & wake up, your interests & purchasing behavior. Where does this information go? "The Chinese owned TikTok app was accused of secretly gathering user data, and sending it to China." (Source: CNET).

Numerous sources and investigations have discovered that the TikTok app does, indeed, have a number of major cyber security leaks and flaws, potentially allowing hackers to access your personal information. "In America, when personal information leaks, we have congressional hearings. Not in China." (Source: 60 Minutes).

Since you or your family members may use the TikTok video app, we wanted to make you aware of this latest news regarding TikTok, and how it may affect your privacy on a daily basis.

Keep smiling (safely)!
Sincerely,

Dr. Joe Comizio, Dr. Sara Sullivan and all your friends at Comizio Orthodontics