Security News > 2023 > March > US government sets a 30-day deadline for wiping TikTok from feds' phones

The White House has ordered all federal government employees to delete TikTok from work devices, over fears the video-sharing app could be used to spy on Americans.

TikTok has been downloaded by billions of people around the world, and is particularly popular among young people - but the US government believes that data could be shared with the Chinese government.

Several US government agencies, including the White House, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department, have already banned staff from accessing TikTok using government devices.

Elsewhere, Canada and the European Parliament have also required government employees to remove TikTok from their work phones and devices, citing privacy and security risks.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to vote on whether TikTok should be banned from all US devices.

Representative Mike McCaul said: "My bill empowers the administration to ban TikTok or any software applications that threaten US national security. Anyone with TikTok downloaded on their device has given the Chinese Communist Party a backdoor to all their personal information. It's a spy balloon into your phone."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/03/01/government_tiktok_ban/