A US Federal Communications Commission (FTC) commissioner has accused TikTok of collecting user data and called on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores.
China access to user data
Brendan Carr, Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, cited A BuzzFeed News report That China has full access to user data.
Leaked audio from internal TikTok meetings indicated that China had access to all user data from September 2021 to January 2022.
The timing is important because in October 2021 TikTok executives witnessed a US security team decide who had access.
Against this backdrop, Mr. Carr sent a letter to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, asking for action to remove TikTok from their app stores.
The letter stated that TikTok does not comply with Apple and Google’s terms and policies.
authorized books:
Last week, a disturbing new report shed light on serious national security threats posed by TikTok.
… TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance — an organization affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party and required by Chinese law to comply with PRC surveillance demands.
TikTok clearly poses an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data collection combined with Beijing’s seemingly unfettered access to that sensitive data.
… Therefore, I am asking you to apply the plain text of your App Store Policies to TikTok and remove it from your App Stores for not adhering to these terms. “
The Google Developer distribution agreement Requires that products available through the Google Play App Store protect user privacy.
FCC Commissioner chirp:
TikTok is not just another video app.
This is the sheep’s clothing.
It harvests swathes of sensitive data that new reports show is being accessed in Beijing.
I have asked Apple & Google to remove TikTok from their app stores due to a pattern of confidential data practices. “
he is too chirp:
TikTok’s pattern of misrepresentations combined with its ownership by an entity beholden to the Chinese Communist Party has led US military branches and national security agencies to ban it from government agencies.
Bipartisan leaders in both the Senate and House of Representatives have expressed their concerns.”
TikTok is still available
TikTok remained available on both an Apple And Google app storesdespite news reports about China’s ability to access sensitive user data from TikTok and an FCC commissioner’s call for TikTok to be removed from the Google Play Store.
Featured image: Dima Cantemir Ph / Shutterstock
