TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew assures US lawmakers 'legacy' data will be deleted this year

TikTok chief Shou Zi Chew on Thursday faced relentless questioning at the hands of US lawmakers over the video-sharing application's alleged ties to China and the danger it poses to teens. Faced with intense grilling by both Democrats ad Republicans, Chew addressed "concerns about the potential for unwanted foreign access to US data." He said that the company has addressed the concerns with "real action" for the past two years and that TikTok has "legacy" US data which will be deleted this year.

"We have legacy US data sitting in our servers in Virginia and in Singapore. We're deleting those and we expect that to be complete this year," he said during the morning session of the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing.

Watch |TikTok CEO grilled by US lawmakers

He added that "when that is done, all protected US data will be under the protection of US law and under the control of the US-led security team. This eliminates the concern that some of you have shared with me that TikTok user data can be subject to Chinese law."

The hearing comes as TikTok seeks to survive a White House ultimatum that to avoid getting banned in the United States, the application mustsplitfrom its Chinese owners.

Chew said that TikTok's parent company ByteDance "is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government and is a private company."

Democrat Congressman Darren Soto, however, reiterated the demand that "TikTok needs to be an American company with American values and end all ties to the Chinese Communist Party."

TikTok which in America boasts a user base of 150 million faces a ban which, as per AFP, would be an "unprecedentedact" on a media company by the US government.

The company, however, still hopes to appease the authorities with its elaborate plan titled "Project Texas," through which it seeks to satisfy national security concerns, under which the handling of US data will be ring-fenced into a US-run division. Lawmakers, however, posed severe doubts and stressed the demand that the application snips its Chinese ties.

(With inputs from agencies)

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