Security News > 2020 > March > Senate bill would ban TikTok from government phones

As many of our federal agencies have already recognized, TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on government devices.

TikTok has tried to soothe US fears about censorship and national security risks, including a reported plan to spin TikTok off from its parent company.

In November 2019, Vanessa Pappas, the general manager of TikTok US, wrote that data security was a priority, reiterating what TikTok has repeatedly claimed: that all US user data is stored in the US and that TikTok's data centers are located "Entirely outside of China."

In October 2019, Senators Tom Cotton and Chuck Schumer had written to Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, asking that the intelligence community please look into what national security risks TikTok and other China-owned apps may pose.

As far as Chinese censorship goes, TikTok has denied ever having been asked by the Chinese government to remove content and said it "Would not do so if asked. Period."

News URL

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2020/03/16/senate-bill-would-ban-tiktok-from-government-phones/