Alright, let's talk about this Agora $API China thing, esp in light of the @stanfordio report.
Thread
0/7
Thread

The fear around Agora is eerily similar to emotions around TikTok's from last year. That is to say: theoretically possible, worth being aware of, makes 0 business sense, not worth fearing about atm.
Storing data for TikTok may have some biz value, but has *none* for Agora. 1/7
Storing data for TikTok may have some biz value, but has *none* for Agora. 1/7
As I explained in "What Does Agora ($API) Do?", it's a Software-Defined Network (SDN) for audio/video transmission via APIs. Agora makes
from more audio/video data transfer on its network, *not* stored. Cloud storage is cheap & commoditized. 2/7 https://interconnected.blog/what-does-agora-api-do/

Users of Agora choose storage location, eg S3 bucket in Oregon west-2. CH is banned, storing data in
makes no sense.
As for SIO's discovery that rooms w/ only
are processed on
servers, could be load balancing during hyper growth, further verification is needed. 3/7

As for SIO's discovery that rooms w/ only


Last year, I shared a framework to distrust & verify TikTok
using existing technology, not fear.
How? tldr:
-use Flow Logs in cloud platforms (standard) to monitor traffic to
-open source certain algos
Same framework can apply to Agora. 4/7 https://interconnected.blog/a-framework-to-dis-trust-and-verify-tiktok/

How? tldr:
-use Flow Logs in cloud platforms (standard) to monitor traffic to

-open source certain algos
Same framework can apply to Agora. 4/7 https://interconnected.blog/a-framework-to-dis-trust-and-verify-tiktok/
Distrust is easy, verify is where the hard work lies.
@stanfordio report did some good work. More is needed. Otherwise vacuum give way to fear & misinfo, lots already shared (ironically) on CH.
Atm people most hurt are (as usual) folks living in
, not in
. 5/7
@stanfordio report did some good work. More is needed. Otherwise vacuum give way to fear & misinfo, lots already shared (ironically) on CH.
Atm people most hurt are (as usual) folks living in


To be clear, if Agora does do something shady to my CH data as an
citizen, I want to know, I want it punished, I want it delisted.
I don't want fear, "could be's", speculation, misinformation to dictate behaviors. 6/7

I don't want fear, "could be's", speculation, misinformation to dictate behaviors. 6/7
We still don't know if TikTok is shady or not, cuz we didn't do the work. Same for Agora, or any other company you fear based on speculation.
As I laid out
, there are ways to distrust & verify.
Let's do the work first, before doing anything else. 7/7 https://interconnected.blog/a-framework-to-dis-trust-and-verify-tiktok/
As I laid out

Let's do the work first, before doing anything else. 7/7 https://interconnected.blog/a-framework-to-dis-trust-and-verify-tiktok/