France bans ‘recreational’ apps like TikTok from public sector employees’ work phones
TikTok app
A report by the news agency AFP citing a ministerial source said that France, as of Friday (March 24) has banned public sector employees from downloading “recreational applications” including the Chinese-owned TikTok on their work phones. This comes after a number of countries in the West have banned the short video-sharing app from phones particularly those with access to its lawmakers citing national and cybersecurity concerns.
The ban also follows restrictions placed in European countries, “the government has decided from now on to ban the downloading and installation of recreational applications on professional telephones given to public servants,” said the public services ministry, reported AFP.
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It added, “Recreational applications do not present sufficient levels of cybersecurity and data protection to be deployed on administrative equipment”. The European Commission and countries like the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and recently New Zealand have told government officials that they cannot use TikTok on work devices over fears of its ties to the Chinese government.
The anonymous source also told AFP, that the ban would include, “game apps like Candy Crush, streaming apps like Netflix and recreational apps like TikTok”. However, Beijing has recently said that it does not ask companies to hand over data gathered overseas.
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China has “never and will not require companies or individuals to collect or provide data located in a foreign country, in a way that violates local law,” said China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, on Friday. But the firm had previously reportedly acknowledged that some of its employees in Beijing could access European user data while insisting that the Chinese government has no control over or access to its data.
(With inputs from agencies)
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