Sure, let's ban TikTok and pretend our data will magically be safe. Smh. | Opinion

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it's too late. It's too late to protect our data. It's too late to start fussing over "privacy."

And it's really too late to act as if banning TikTok is going to have an impact on, well, anything.

But here we are. The Supreme Court of the United States will hear arguments on Friday over whether TikTok should be banned in America.

The highest court in the land, known mostly for telling women to get lost, is now being tasked with deciding if we can spend hours ignoring work by viewing TikTok videos.

Why? Because one of the things the government wants us to believe is that it cares about our data and privacy. Some of you, it would appear, are falling for it.

Banning TikTok won't change the rampant security breaches

Now, I don't know or honestly care if China plans to take my data and use it against me. TikTok gathers the same kind of information that every other social media site uses, and they've been mismanaging it this whole time. The truth is that the argument over privacy and data was over years ago, and we lost.

Companies across all major industries have experienced cyberattacks of Herculean proportions. Our data has been compromised so often that I've gotten email alerts about accounts I forgot I had.

But somehow, TikTok is the one we need to get rid of, right? All because the Chinese government might take control and weaponize our data? What, we only want American companies to take advantage?

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Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and, yes, TikTok have already had massive data breaches. That doesn't include other industries or health care providers.

Essentially, if you've used any personal information to log into a website, your data was likely stolen or is vulnerable. And what do you think happens to that data? Do you think it all just stays in America? Nope, it's likely out there on that dark web.

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Congress can't stop it, so TikTok becomes the scapegoat

So what's the solution?

Aside from us coming together to rise up against having to give our Social Security number to buy a pack of gum, there really isn't one outside of personal vigilance with our information.

Because what's never, ever, going to happen is that our elected leaders will be savvy enough to regulate any of this. We have a Congress that can't agree on keeping the lights on and an incoming president who thinks Haitian immigrants are out here eating dogs and cats.

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We have politicians who aren't technically proficient enough to manage a Facebook group, much less hold Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk to any real accountability about our data.

They have chosen instead to say "China" a few dozen times in a half-baked attempt to make us think they have any ability or desire to actually protect our data while also getting rid of arguably the most effective social media platform on the market.

So start thinking about your online behaviors and how getting rid of TikTok will do next to nothing to make our data more secure. Then, wait for the next big breach that we'll shrug at because we all know it's too late.

Louie Villalobos is Gannett's director of Opinion. His friends know it's fine to text him at 3 a.m. because it's likely he's watching dog videos on TikTok and saving them to show people later.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will the Supreme Court ban TikTok? That won't fix a thing | Opinion