TikTok says Chinese employees can access U.S. user data

TikTok U.S. user data privacy concerns letter overview: 

• Who: TikTok wrote a letter to nine Republican senators to address privacy concerns related to allegations that company workers inside China are able to access the data of U.S. users. 
• Why: The Republican senators made an inquiry into TikTok’s ability to access the data of its U.S. users following a BuzzFeed article that reported that leaked audio showed TikTok workers in China had repeatedly accessed the data of U.S. users. 
• Where: TikTok is a video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance and used by individuals in the United States. 

TikTok confirmed in a letter written to nine Republican senators that its China-based employees are able to access the data of U.S. users. 

The video hosting service explained to the senators, however, that its employees in China have to go through a series of “robust cybersecurity controls” to gain access to the data, Business Insider reports. 

TikTok said in its letter that it wanted to address concerns over the privacy of its U.S. users, which the company argued stemmed from “allegations and insinuations” that are “incorrect and not supported by facts.” 

The nine Republican senators had inquired about whether TikTok employees were able to access U.S. user data following allegations made in a recent BuzzFeed article, according to the letter. 

According to BuzzFeed, leaked audio from 80 internal TikTok meetings showed that employees inside China “repeatedly accessed” U.S. user data. 

TikTok should be removed from Apple, Google app stores, FCC says

Brendan Carr, commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, called for both Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores following the BuzzFeed article, Business Insider reports. 

While TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew confirmed that employees outside of the United States are able to access the data of U.S. users, he explained to the senators that workers must first go through authorization approval protocols that a U.S.-based security team oversees. 

“TikTok has an internal data classification system and approval process in place that assigns levels of access based on the data’s classification and requires approvals for access to U.S. user data,” Chew wrote. “The level of approval required is based on the sensitivity of the data according to the classification system.”

Chew called TikTok “among the most scrutinized platforms from a security standpoint” while reassuring the Republican senators that the company wants to “remove any doubt” about the data security of its users in the United States. 

ByteDance, the China-based company which owns TikTok, had previously made a deal with the Trump administration to sell part of TikTok to Oracle, a U.S.-based company; however, the deal never ended up happening, The New York Times reports. 

In February, TikTok agreed to pay $2 million to resolve claims that it unlawfully collected and commercialized the data of its users in Canada. 

TikTok and other social media platforms have also been under fire for their negative mental health effects. If you are under the age of 21 or your teen or child suffered a mental health condition from social media use, you may qualify to participate in a lawsuit investigation. 

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