TikTok: (FCC) - A member of the Federal Communications Commission, is renewing calls for Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their App Stores, citing national security concerns about ByteDance.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr described ByteDance as "beholden" to the Chinese government and "required by law to comply with [Chinese government] surveillance demands" in a letter to the CEOs of Apple (AAPL (AAPL)) and Google (GOOGL) on June 24. Carr said TikTok is "out of compliance with the policies that both of your companies require every app to adhere to," citing a recent BuzzFeed News report that ByteDance Chinese staff had accessed US TikTok users data on multiple occasions.
Apple and Google did not respond immediately to requests for comment. TikTok issued a statement calling the BuzzFeed report "misleading."
"TikTok, like many global companies, has engineering teams all over the world," TikTok explained. "To secure user data, we use access controls such as encryption and security monitoring, and the access approval process is overseen by our US-based security team. TikTok has consistently stated that our engineers in locations other than the United States, including China, can be granted as-needed access to U.S. user data under those strict controls."
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img © Unsplash | Federal Communications Commission (FCC) tells Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their App Store |
Buzzfeed News said in a statement that it "stands categorically behind our reporting that US user data was accessed far more frequently than previously known by China-based TikTok employees, and we're glad that TikTok even confirmed this in its own statement."
For years, US officials have expressed concern that Chinese government access to data or communications of US users could jeopardise national security. However, it is unclear whether Carr's plea will be successful.
The FCC has no authority over internet-based services such as app stores, and previous efforts by the US government to ban TikTok from US app stores have failed due to legal challenges. Decisions on how and whether the FCC should act would necessitate the approval of Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who leads the independent federal agency.
TikTok announced on the same day as the BuzzFeed report that it had migrated its US user data to Oracle cloud servers based in the US, and that it would eventually delete backups of its US user data from its own proprietary servers.
Carr states that in his letter that the announcement did not reassure him. "TikTok has long claimed that its US user data is stored on US servers, but those claims provide no protection against accessing data from Beijing," he said. "In fact, TikTok claim that '100% of US user traffic is routed to Oracle says' nothing about where that data can be accessed.