TikTok Is Taking More Steps To Reassure Users In The US That Their Data Is In Safe Hands

It was only recently that TikTok was in the line of fire after receiving accusations that it was sharing US-based data with government officials in China.

Therefore, both tech giants Apple and Google had been instructed by one FCC commissioner to make way for a possible ban on the leading video-based social media app. And that was because he felt it was very possible that it was now being used as a dangerous tool for surveillance by China.

As you can imagine, the pressure on TikTok is now even more immense than before to prove itself against these startling allegations that the company has blatantly denied. And that’s why TikTok is doing everything in its power to ensure its data is safe for use by all Americans in an effort to try and win its people back.

The company recently seen released a public statement where it reaffirmed how important of a priority it was to keep its users’ data safe and sound. They claimed that despite all those reports that accused them of their intentions and commitments, they had provided enough justification with evidence to Congress via a letter sent out recently.

This letter is believed to have addressed so many people’s concerns on the matter while TikTok says it aims to share publicly what matters it was taking to further safeguard users’ data on the app.

The social media giant was seen pointing out its system of updates which delineated how data belonging to US users was first being routed via Oracle Cloud’s system. By this, more data was being held in the country. At the same time, TikTok says it is working on creating a new American capacity that will eventually put a decrease in the number of data transfers taking place across various regions.

This is said to be overlooked by numerous protocols in place so that those located outside the US would have limited access to user data. Nevertheless, we still can’t forget how the company is acknowledging that there are some members belonging to the Chinese staff of ByteDance who have the rights to access American Users’ data. However, it did try to justify those claims by saying that the number was very limited.

TikTok continued to mention how it has teams set up around the globe like so many other foreign companies. Common places include China, London, Singapore, and even Dublin too where the app’s teams could potentially require access for reasons related to engineering.

But again, TikTok says that such maneuvers are never done blindly and they always come with plenty of safeguards and controls in place. Be it for encryption reasons or perhaps related to authorization.

To put it simply, data belonging to US users is very much accessible in any particular form by the app’s staff which resides in China. So, yes the concerns being generated on the matter do make sense and yes, the data of users is definitely vulnerable to privacy breaches in this regard.

No matter what the reassurances being given may be, there are always going to be plenty of doubts on so many people’s minds. But does this mean TikTok will be able to escape scrutiny in the future?

Well, we’re not quite sure about that right now. This will in turn depend a lot on CCP’s actions which appear to be on a different page altogether.

China has already been at the center of much controversy lately. And that’s related to its stance on the Ukraine-Russian conflict which it is yet to condemn.

Therefore, it makes sense why the US is on alert for such practices as user data could be used for intelligence purposes and further escalate the matter.


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