The removal of TikTok from Apple and Google’s respective app stores was demanded earlier this week by a US FCC commissioner. Now that the issue has been raised, the parent company, ByteDance, has commented and confirmed that some workers who work in China have access to data belonging to TikTok users in the United States.
The commissioner referred to TikTok as a “sophisticated surveillance tool” and claimed that Chinese officials use the app to collect data.
Audio from leaked TikTok internal meetings suggested that China would have access to all user data from September 2021 to January 2022. Timing is crucial since TikTok officials stated during testimony in October 2021 that a U.S. security team chooses who has access.
Given this context, Mr. Carr wrote to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, requesting that they take steps to remove Tik Tok from their respective app stores. As it is allegedly in violation of Apple’s and Google’s terms and rules, according to the letter.
TikTok’s enormous data collection combined with Beijing’s ostensibly unrestricted access to that sensitive data, according to Mr. Carr, makes it an intolerable national security concern, as stated in his letter to Apple and Google.
ByteDance acknowledged that some staff members require access to TikTok U.S. user data in responding to this question today. However, it went on to make clear that these staff members are subject to a number of strict cybersecurity controls and authorized approval standards that are managed by our security team in the United States.
But, as reported by Reuters, ByteDance has pledged to make adjustments that will “completely safeguard user data and U.S. national security concerns.” In a joint venture with Oracle, the business said that it is now finalizing “new enhanced data security procedures.”
However, ByteDance continues to use U.S. and Singapore data centers for backups despite moving U.S. user data to Oracle servers last month. Following the conclusion of this arrangement, TikTok claims it will remove all protected data belonging to U.S. consumers from its own systems and completely switch to Oracle cloud servers situated in the U.S.
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In the company’s response to the news from today, it is looking forward to speaking with Congressmen about the letter’s main points.
The answer from TikTok “confirms our suspicions about the CCP’s power,” Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee told Bloomberg.
Requests to remove TikTok from the App Store and Play Store have not yet received a response from Google or Apple. Despite news reports suggesting China might access sensitive user data from TikTok and the FCC commissioner’s request for TikTok to be withdrawn from Google’s app store, TikTok was still available in both Apple and Google’s app stores.
