Does TikTok pose a security risk or not? This question has been discussed repeatedly internationally in the past. India has already blocked the short video app, but there is currently no legal ban in the rest of the world.
US House of Representatives bans TikTok
according to media reports the US House of Representatives has banned the app on the work cell phones of MPs and their employees. According to a report by CBS, US states such as Texas, Georgia, Maryland, South Dakota, South Carolina and Nebraska as well as the US military also instructed their personnel to no longer use the app on official devices. It is no longer allowed to be downloaded and lawmakers had to delete TikTok from their mobile devices if it was installed, CBS and NBC reported, citing an internal administration memo.
It states: “Employees of the house are NOT allowed to download the TikTok app on mobile devices of the house. TikTok is NOT allowed on mobile devices in the house. If you have the TikTok app on your mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it.”
TikTok employees access journalist data without permission
According to cyber specialists, the app poses “a number of security risks,” the letter said.
For example, shortly before Christmas it became known that TikTok employees had gained unauthorized access to the personal data of several journalists . Among other things, IP addresses and user data are said to have been retrieved during this process. TikTok wanted to check whether there were possible meetings between employees and the magazine's research team, as basicthinking reports. Four employees were subsequently fired, but the company firmly denied all allegations of espionage.
FBI concerned about Chinese espionage
The FBI is also monitoring the social media app. According to US Federal Police Director Christoph Wray, his agency has numerous security concerns about TikTok. The Chinese government controls the app's algorithm, which suggests content to users.
This enables the company to specifically manipulate content and, if necessary, use it to influence operations, as we in a previous report . “This gives them the opportunity to manipulate the content and, if they want, to use it for influence campaigns,” said Chris Wray in a lecture in Michigan. In addition, China could collect and use the personal data of app users for espionage operations.
ByteDance does not want to prevent unauthorized data flow
In September of this year, ByteDance, as the parent company of TikTok, had to answer to the US Senate. The reason for this was the unauthorized transfer of data to China. Even before that, data protection officers internationally had repeatedly raised complaints against the social media app.
However, ByteDance has repeatedly refused to stop the flow of data to China to US lawmakers.
Germany has not yet wanted to follow suit
The new instruction in the US anticipates a general ban on all US government devices that is expected to come into force as part of the recently passed budget law.
In Germany, however, there is unlikely to be a ban on the TikTok app or other restrictions in this regard in the recent future. The Federal Digital Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) initially rejected a special law to regulate TikTok in June, as the Tagesschau reports.
Sources:
Tagesschau , Basicthinking
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