HAMBURG, N.Y. — Kat Dermady is like many others. She's afraid the social media app TikTok is going to be potentially banned.
"Every single night I'm on it. That's what I do before I go to bed. I like to look at the different educational videos on there," Dermady said.
Kat is an esthetician in Western New York, showing different skin products or skin care routines. She is also part comedian.
"When I first started becoming an aesthetician, and I didn't have clientele, that's what I'd use to get people to come in and see me," Dermady said.
TikTok is a popular social media platform used globally for either educational purposes, entertainment, or shopping. From personal care down to home goods, the app serves many people and is used by many small business owners.
However, Congress feels the app is sharing users' "sensitive data," calling it a "threat to national security."
"What can a foreign and potential adversarial government- what data can they get access to, and that's the purpose of this law," Kevin Cleary said.
Cleary is a University at Buffalo Professor, specializing in cybersecurity.
"If a foreign adversary wanted to get at the data of TikTok, regardless of who owns it, regardless of where it's hosted, they're going to be able to."
He continued, "They're just wanting to see the divestiture and severing of that relationship with the Chinese parent company because certain laws in China can and then compel that parent company to give up data on U.S. citizens."
Then some people could care less about the app.
"I think it'll be a good thing for society, honestly. I think kids and the younger generation nowadays are too much on their phones, and they don't get exposed to the real world," Jason Smith said.
He told 2 On Your Side he doesn't use the app.
"[It's] Just a waste of time. You get addicted, and you sit on it for hours and hours, and all of a sudden, it's four in the morning," Cleary said.