China is Collecting Massive Amounts of Data from Americans: Report
A new warning about Chinese technology is raising fresh concerns about how much personal information Americans may already have exposed online.
According to a forthcoming book, popular Chinese-built platforms may be collecting massive amounts of data from U.S. users.
Author Wynton Hall argues that social media app TikTok and artificial intelligence platform DeepSeek function as digital “Trojan horses” capable of harvesting sensitive information from Americans.
Hall makes the claims in his upcoming book Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI.
He warns that many Americans may already be inside these systems without realizing the scale of the data collection involved.
TikTok alone has about 150 million monthly users in the United States.
DeepSeek, a rapidly rising Chinese AI platform, has around 4 million monthly users in the country.
Hall describes the platforms as powerful “data vacuums” capable of gathering enormous amounts of personal information.
According to the book, the apps can collect details such as IP addresses, browsing activity, typing patterns, and device information.
Even subtle details like typing rhythm and finger positioning can reportedly be tracked, creating what experts call a “digital fingerprint” unique to each user.
Hall warns that the technology could allow China to build detailed profiles of millions of Americans.
Those profiles could potentially be used for surveillance, espionage, or influence operations.
“America’s digital gates were breached long ago,” Hall writes, referring to the spread of TikTok across the U.S.
He argues the Chinese Communist Party may be able to access data collected by companies operating inside China, per the Daily Mail.
Under China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, companies can be required to cooperate with government intelligence agencies.
That possibility has raised concerns among U.S. lawmakers for years.
Officials worry that personal information gathered through apps could eventually be accessed by Chinese authorities.
DeepSeek has drawn particular attention since its rapid rise in the AI industry.
The platform shocked the technology sector in early 2025 when it claimed to produce powerful AI models at a fraction of the cost of American competitors.
The announcement triggered massive market volatility.
Nvidia, one of the world’s largest AI chip companies, saw its market value drop roughly $590 billion in a single day after the news.
Within days of its release, DeepSeek’s chatbot surged to the top of U.S. app stores.
Millions of Americans downloaded the AI platform and began using it for conversations, documents, and business tasks.
Hall warns that those interactions may have exposed large amounts of personal information.
According to the platform’s privacy policy, user data can include emails, phone numbers, chat histories, and even keystroke patterns.
The company acknowledges that this information is stored in China.
Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about the potential national security risks.
Some officials argue the apps could also be used as propaganda tools.
Algorithms could theoretically be adjusted to shape what content users see online.
Congress previously passed legislation targeting TikTok, citing concerns about its Chinese ownership.
President Donald Trump later negotiated a deal allowing the app to remain operational in the United States.
Under the agreement, the company’s parent firm ByteDance sold most of its stake to American investors.
The restructuring reduced Chinese ownership to 19.9 %.
Despite that change, some lawmakers remain concerned about long-term security risks.
Hall argues that limiting access to these platforms may be the safest path forward.
“The safest way to stop CCP Trojan horses,” he said, “is to not let them enter the gates to begin with.”
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