As Biden govt tries to avoid ban on TikTok, two Senators call it a ‘massive surveillance’ tool for China
TikTok app logo
The Biden administration is considering whether to let TikTok continue operating in the US. There have been several controversies around the video-sharing app, with countries like India banning it over security concerns. Amidst deliberations over the proposal to let TikTok function in the country, two US senators have called TikTok a Chinese surveillance tool.
“It’s not just the content you upload to TikTok but all the data on your phone, other apps, all your personal information, even facial imagery, even where your eyes are looking on your phone,” Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton said on Fox News Sunday.
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Cotton termed the platform “one of the most massive surveillance programmes ever, especially on America’s young people".
Calling it “an enormous threat,” Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, said, “All of that data that your child is inputting and receiving, is being stored somewhere in Beijing."
Donald Trump had floated a ban on TikTok as president, and the Biden administration is seeking a security agreement with the platform to avoid it. Concerns regarding data leak through the app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd have been brought up by critics time and again.
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Under the proposal being considered, all US user traffic will be routed through servers maintained by Oracle Corp., with the US-based database giant auditing the app’s algorithms. The user base of the extremely popular app is mostly the younger population.
Republican Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin have accused the Biden administration for taking insufficient action and will be introducing a legislation to ban TikTok from use in the US.
The FBI has also warned against data leak through the app, with Director Christopher Wray telling a House panel last week that potential Chinese government access to users’ data or software is reason to be “extremely concerned.”
TikTok admits that some employees outside the US are able to access information from American users. However, it has denied that any of it is shared with the Chinese government.
TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew had talked about Project Texas last week. Under it, sensitive data from American users will be isolated and only the staff in the US will be able to access it.
(With inputs from agencies)
