TikTok, a viral social media platform app, claimed that its employees based in China could access the data of users in America.
The New York Times obtained the company’s response to an inquiry from Republican senators in the United States that requested specifics into the data collected from the app.
In a reply letter to TikTok’s CEO Shou Z Chew, he wrote that “Employees from the US, China-based employees can have access TikTok US users data subject to a string of robust cybersecurity controls” and authorized approval protocols. The Times.
Chew clarified that the data required “approval” based on data classification.
Chew said that TikTok uses an approval and data classification process within its organization. This allows for the assigning of levels of access according to data classification, and also requires authorizations for US data access. The classification system determines the data’s sensitivity. This is what will be used to decide the level of approval.
The response is the latest in a recent wave of concern brought on by TikTok’s troubling ties to communist China.
Last year, NewsBusters reported that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, sold a stake to WangTouZhongWen Technology, a Beijing company owned by three state entities in China.
The platform’s privacy policy currently allows it to share unlimited amounts of user data with ByteDance.
“We may share all of the information we collect with a parent, subsidiary, or other affiliate of our corporate group,” TikTok’s policy says.
The No TikTok on Government Devices Act was reintroduced by Senator Josh Hawley, R-MO in order to prohibit the use of social media on official federal devices.
Hawley said TikTok is “a Trojan horse for the Chinese Communist Party that has no place on government devices—or any American devices, for that matter” in a statement. He added: “TikTok has repeatedly proven itself to be a malicious actor[,]But Joe Biden, Big Tech and others refuse to seriously consider the Chinese threat of espionage. It’s time for Congress to act.”
It is not surprising that TikTok has reduced its data sharing.
“We employ rigorous access controls and a strict approval process overseen by our U.S.-based leadership team, including technologies like encryption and security monitoring to safeguard sensitive user data,” a TikTok spokeswoman told CNBC at the time.
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