TikTok is the latest social platform under scrutiny by US lawmakers. Both Republican senators as well as a regulator claim that the app presents a national security threat.
The Guardian reports that Nine Republican senators this week issued a later to TikTok following a report by Buzzfeed last month claiming that employees of ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company) were able to access private data of American users from their work location in China.
The GuardianThe FCC’s Republican member, John McCain, also asked Google and Apple to remove TikTok apps from their stores while the issue continues.
TikTok responded to the senators’ letter, confirming that the company is working with the Biden administration on an agreement that would “fully safeguard user data and US national security interests,”According to a copy of this letter, Reuters.
TikTok’s chief executive Shou Zi Chew wrote that ByteDance was working with US cloud computing company Oracle on “new advanced data security controls that we hope to finalize in the near future.”
The company’s letter acknowledged that China-based employees “can have access to TikTok US user data.”It claimed, however that access to the Internet is subject to “robust cybersecurity controls and authorization approval protocols overseen by our US-based security team.”
TikTok has quickly become one of the world’s biggest social networks. In September 2021, it reported one billion monthly active users worldwide, representing a 45 percent growth compared to the previously reported figure of 689 million in July 2020. Experts put the company’s value at between $50 and $75billion.